Broken World
by It's normally in subtext
Summary: "Loki had won; the Earth was his and the Avengers were broken." The world is a shadow of its former self, the Chatari patrol everywhere taking anyone they deem to and she just so happened to be useful to them. Loki/OC/Captain America.
1. Chapter 1

She remembered the look on Tony's face when he woke, it was so lost and... Broken. He'd failed the Earth. Now, the Earth would pay the price.

Loki was King of the Mountain; he was Tsar of all; he was the Enigmatic and Powerful Leader. They were fucked.

Tony had known me for all of my life. He'd been over on an exchange trip to England and had met her mother as she fell into labor; in a broken down lift. He'd fixed the lift and then breathed deeply in the corner as she had screamed in agony and strain.

They all raced to the hospital; my mother and Tony in the ambulance, my father down the roads of the M-6. I'd heard the stories that my mother had tried to wait as long as she could for my father to get there; only to be delivered with the news that he would never walk through the doors.

A truck had curved, violently, as it tried to save itself and whacked into the head of my father's car. Smashing the front of the bonnet into an introverted style and killing my father instantly.

So, naturally, Tony felt obliged and, evidently, rather chivalrous that day; he'd given my mother a dowager that set her up for five years, securing her safety and health. My mother had blanched at the idea but Tony wouldn't take the money back. He just smiled with an uncharacteristic sadness and kindness and walked away, calling over his shoulder. "I'll see you around, baby."

My mother had thought it only naturally to name me after him but, thankfully, she disliked the name Antonia. So, instead I was called Victoria and my name was shortened to a crisp and concise nickname; Tori. Which, you know, is exactly like the name of the man that had saved my life...? Not.

He began to flit in and out of my life as easily as a butterfly. Never staying very long but always bringing laughter or happiness when he did. He always came sad, though, or bored like he was escaping from the reality he had built around himself; that his inventions of genius were used to kill people. And, although, he knew that they were only used to kill terrorists or murderers, he still felt caged by that thought. And I knew we were his relief, his break from it all; we were his shed.

But then it all became very difficult and pitiful. My mother, you see, became sick and began to decrease. She lost her kindness and dignity and became dependent on a daughter that she screamed at and tried to bite and scratch and hit. When she got worse Tony had to act on his own and, although, his actions were against my will and wishes; he had my mother secluded into a home. He brought me across the Atlantic and tried to care of me.

Unfortunately, Tony is not a father and I became my own responsibility. Not that that was a bad thing, it just meant that I had no one to sob to; until Pepper came along.

I was sixteen when she became Tony's personal assistant; hardly a prefect age for anyone but she made it easier on me. She was there when I was sad and she gave me Tony to yell at when I was angry. But, above all, she understood. She knew what I was going through, not from her own personal experience, but because she was empathetic and she knew me. She didn't think that I was being ridiculous or hormonal; she thought that I had justified opinions but I didn't know how to voice them.

I learnt that skill when Tony was taken. I made speeches to the United States Congress and Senate, I spoke to the people who mattered more and less, I appeared on television shows and I appealed. I appealed for them to get off their fat arses and find a man who was vital to me and Pepper because this distance, this feeling of loss and pain that we were going through, was unbearable. It made about as much difference to the finding of Tony Stark as a paper coat did in the rain but I tried. And I did become very personable to the people.

I mattered less when Tony admitted to being Iron Man but at least they still let me go on Ellen.

When Tony became sick, close to death, I was given a year's supply of money and trust; to go on a Gap Year and see the World, so with glee I accepted. But had I known that Tony was sick and he was trying to get me out of the way so I didn't have to watch him die? I never would have gone. Not in a million years would I have left that man. I guess, in hind sight I should have known. I should have sensed something was wrong. I mean, since when did Tony become nice?

But I wanted to trust him and I did and I still do; despite his lack of it in himself.

He shipped me back to America when he Ivan died and the Expo was… lacking in structure. He watched me enter college and pushed me to complete my Psychology degree. Even though he thought that it was a load of bullshit, to which I replied he would because he was in desperate need of counseling to resolve his "Daddy Issues".

I was there, on leave and hiding from their date night, in the Stark Tower when Phil Coulson arrived and I got roped in to helping Tony with his brief. I watched the videos and saw the photos; to say that I didn't want Tony to risk his life against Loki was an understatement. I REALLY didn't want him to.

But, when does Tony ever listen to anyone?

I was there, not in hiding, in Stark Tower when Loki arrived; he looked pretty surprised to see me there, too. As he swaggered up to me, yanking the book away from me, a smirk was plastered on his face. His green eyes were dancing with a malevolent light and an ecstasy that could only be described as really fucking creepy.

We conversed, and by that I mean; I yelled at him to leave, he laughed, I picked up the phone and called Tony, he hit me, I told him he was a dick, he told me he was going to rule me and destroy my planet's will till everyone was begging for mercy. You know fun stuff like the weather.

He tied me up with a flick of his golden scepter and then held my chin up with it, making sure that I looked at him as he spoke.

"Do not close your eyes, _mortal. _I want you to watch as I kill the people of your life."

"Jesus Christ… why can't you just want sex like most men?"

He raised a slim and dark eyebrow at that and his eyes trailed down my face to my body; I shrank back and thought bitterly. 'Be sarcastic to the crazy God, that's a great idea.'

Then the sound of thrusters broke the stare that Loki had, he straightened out and faced the sky as Tony's shabby and well-loved Iron Man suit came into view. The thrusters spat out energy pathetically as he landed and the rims ripped the worn out metal from him.

Loki moved out to welcome him a superior and happy smirk on his pale face. Shoulders back and the glowing torch clasped firmly in his hand.

Tony had run to me and put his hands on my face to check that I was all right, his knuckles grazed over the lump on my cheek and he inhaled, deeply, his fists clenching at his sides and his neck straining as he tried to remain calm.

"Don't worry, I haven't harmed her. Yet." Loki jeered; trying to gain a reaction from Tony, trying to see what he would do if he used me in this fight.

"Well, you should know this, Hamlet." Tony said, rising up and checking to see if he could do anything about the metal wrapped around my wrists. "If she ever gets out of these chains, she'll harm you."

"Then I shall keep her in chains, eternally, but thank you for the warning." His tone was polite and terribly English. But as soft and calming and… silky as it was, it was also unnerving and annoying.

"You're welcome; would you like a drink?" Tony asked, walking the distance from me to the bar and opening his whiskey.

"Stalling me won't change anything. The Chutari will still come; nothing can stop that."

"Oh, no, dear heart. I'm not stalling, I'm threatening."

"You really should have kept your armor on for that." Loki said, moving closer to my shoulder and standing behind me as Tony poured himself a drink. I could hear his deep breathing and feel his warmth radiating to me.

"Yeah, well it's seen a bit of mileage and you have the glowing stick of destiny." Tony sighed, trying desperately not to look at him and me stood so close together. He knew that Loki was just trying to get him to fight him. "No, but seriously, do you not want a drink?"

"Stalling you will not help-." Loki began, pompously; glaring at him but Tony raised his hand and interrupted him.

"No, not stalling. Threatening."

Loki sighed bitterly and trotted from me to the window, glaring out at the skyline with over brimming superiority; his chin jutting out and his shoulders thrown back so that he appeared taller and wider in stature.

"The Chutari will come nothing can stop them now. They are a vast army and you only a few." He span back and asked him. "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers." Tony threw back, just as proudly and care free as his normal comments. When Loki frowned at the billionaire he expanded with an eye roll and shrug. "That's kind of what we call ourselves; Earth's mightiest heroes' kind of thing."

"Yes," Loki mocked, walking forward and back to stand behind my shoulder. "I've met them."

Tony's look began to turn sour as the liquid spilled out into the glass. His eyes darkened and his smirk became a grimace. Something bad had happened and Loki had made it happen.

"Yeah; takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one but let's do a head count here. There's your brother; the demi god." He dropped the glass and moved his hands underneath the shelter of the bar's wall.

I frowned and watched as he twisted his arm around, slipping something on.

"A living legend; that, kinda, lives up to the legend. A man with, breath taking, anger management issues. Couple of master assassins; and you, big fella, have managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Loki said, as he began to take large and circular strides in a line, calming himself. He was scared.

Tony took a swig of the whiskey and spat out. "Not a very good plan. Because when they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army." Loki's voice had slipped from the mocking and superior tone to a dark and deadly shiver. Just as Tony's had slipped into the one he used on her boyfriends.

"We have a Hulk."

"Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off."

Tony had begun to move back down into the middle of the room, passing me and up to Loki. "Yeah, you're missing the point. There's no throne." He stressed. "There's no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you."

I watched the man I loved like a father stand up against the most sardonic man I had ever met, with not much in his arsenal except snide comments and a fantastic brief. I don't think I'd ever been so proud.

"Because if we can't protect the Earth; you can be damn sure we'll avenge it."

Wow, that was so amazing I think I just shat myself.

I cast my head to look at the dark haired men and saw the fear flickering in Loki's eyes and features. His knuckles were white as he clenched the staff and his chest was flaring upwards as he breathed deeply.

"How will they be able to fight me when they're too busy fighting you?"

I let out a yelp as Loki raised the scepter to touch Tony's heart but as it glowed Tony just stood there; staring down at it like it was supposed to do something.

Loki drew it back and tried again, tapping the reactor that saved his life; many times.

"I don't understand this normally works."

"Well performance issues. You can't expect it to work all the time. Hey, did you get insurance-?"

But Tony couldn't say anything more because Loki had seized him and with a feral yell threw him from the penthouse window and into the sky.

I let out a scream as I watched his body begin to fall to the ground. I struggled against the bonds and screamed in fury as they were stuck in place. Then the casket whizzed past my ear and flew for him.

I smiled with relief and felt my heart put itself back in place and my breathing returned to normal.

Loki drew himself up to his normal height as Tony appeared in front of us, his thrusters billowing out energy.

"Oh, and there's one other person you pissed off. His name's Phil."

Loki stood ready and braced himself for a fight but he wasn't ready for the blast that surged out from Tony's hand and sent him tumbling backwards. The suit flew into the penthouse as a charge of electricity surged from the top of Stark Tower. I stared up at the ceiling, as if I was scared it would crush me in a second.

Tony ripped me from the chair and pulled me onto my feet, the slants of light for eyes stared into my eyes but I couldn't see anything behind them.

"You have to go, Tony, I'll be fine."

"I have time…"

"There's an army, you have none."

Tony glanced from me to the window and then pushed me in the direction of the door and flew away. I ran after him, watching his graceful drop and soars as he twisted around the air like an eagle. Then he was hit by an alien and he lost a little bit of grace.

I sighed and ran from the sight, knowing that I'd be unable to watch any of it; I made my way to the door before I was caught and thrown across the room.

I landed on my elbow and felt it graze against the harshly cold and sharp floor but the impact was worse than the slight graze. It whacked into the ground with a sharp bang and I felt the pain and shock rip through my body.

I rolled over and held it to my body, glaring up at the demi god with total hate and dislike. He smirked down at me with his green eyes and swaggered across to me, slowly and deliberating, his scepter swinging in his hand. A dark look in his eyes and face.

This was how he was going to get back at Tony, I was his penance.

"If I were a pathetic and placid and puny human I would run from the majestic and powerful God in front of me."

He had finally reached me and was looking down at me with a cold look in his eyes.

"Good thing I'm not in that position then, isn't it?" I asked, swinging my leg out and causing him to tumble slightly, I grabbed the lamp on the side and used it to whack him across the head.

My arm kept to my chest as I ran through the door and out down the stairs because I decided that I liked the experience of running down nearly a hundred flights of stairs into a war ridden New York City.

I dodged out of the way as some rubble fell down over the top of my head and crashed into the ground. Then something jumped down and reared its ugly head at me. Its grey fist taking a swat at my head but he was thrown back by a shield and sent sparling out of the way and into the ground.

A man ran over to her and looked at her with mask covered eyes but she could see the deep brown orbs and the muscular body encased in a thick… latex?... outfit.

"You must be Victoria. We have to get you out of here." He ordered, taking my hurt arm and trying to drag me to safety but I swatted away and winced from the sharp pain.

"How do you know who I am?" I asked, quickly, ducking out of the way of a clash of fire power with the ground near us.

"Steve Rogers, ma'am; I know Tony."

"Is he alright?"

The masked man nodded stiffly and then took my wrist, taking me more gently although still forcefully. But now he was sure that I could trust him even if it was only a little bit of trust.

He pulled me over to a shop and put me inside, safely hidden in the corner with a table ready to push against the door and the back door leading to a hidden alleyway.

"You need to stay here, ma'am, I'll be back to get you later but if anything happens. Don't wait, just run."

I stared at him and then pushed my gaze away, I could see the uncertainty in his eyes but also the fire and power that made it difficult to keep looking.

"Be careful." I shouted as he rose up to leave.

He did come back for me, Tony in tow with a woman trailing them, tears in her blue eyes; they pulled me onto my feet and dragged me away from New York.

We didn't stop moving for two weeks; day by day we were joined by more and more people until our group consisted of the failed Avenger team, their lovers and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

That's when I saw it, every day for weeks, the same look of lose and pain and guilt. It followed me like a familiar, ghosting my movements and covering me in a dark cloud.

Loki had won; the Earth was his and the Avengers were broken.


	2. Chapter 2

_I should probably say now, that I disclaim all rights to the characters that you recognise in this story. They belong to other people…. Shame, really…_

The news was now populated with the stories of Loki's greatness and his one speech about how he was lifting us up to enlightenment and golden hope. He was taking us from the corner of Pharaoh's prison to the promise land of Canaan.

Thor was the only person, or God, that still watched the television. Most days he'd never leave the settee; he would just sit there and stare at the screen with a dulled interest. We only ever saw his expression change when Loki's face or emblem came on screen. It grew so dark and deadly that it even scared Jane. His fist clenched and he attempted to rise but then it vanished and he sank back down into the cushions. Blinking and walking back the agony till he just sat like a stone.

Tony had tried, on different occasions, to get him to move or to get any form of response that they could but nothing happened. The only thing that Jane could do was get him to get a shower once a week and take a rest some days but it was still tearing her apart.

I watched her most days as she watched him, I saw the desperation in her eyes as she tried to talk to him, the way she gentle reached out to touch him but pulled back because she was afraid he'd break, the way she always urged us to keep our voices quiet around him, and any talks of Loki were held in another place entirely.

The only person that insisted we talked about Loki was Fury, who now had to walk with a cane that made as much difference to his recovery as a banana smoothie did. He would spend hours of the day in front of blueprints and files on the Helicarrier; he spent hours on the phone to ex-heads of countries; he spent hours talking to the rest of the Avengers to try and rally them. But he was pushing a sick donkey; no I don't understand that simile either; the Avengers or, as I found out later, the rest of the Avengers had to push nor fight nor energy behind them. They were stuck in this vicious cycle of pain and guilt that made them all addled and sick.

The environment did help much, either; Pepper had searched and searched for a better place but we only had so much money that we could use now and this was the only place that had enough rooms and water for all of them. It wasn't exactly what I'd call spacious but it was enough and I could at least say with some certainty that I wasn't selfish and rude like other girls who grew up with everything they'd ever wanted.

I shared a room with Natasha Romanoff, some nights Natasha would even slip into my bed and hold onto me as one of us or both of us cried. The woman seemed to have lost her precious pride and dignity from the fall but in its place a compassion for others and a kindness had formed. I knew why; she was guilty.

"I have red in my ledger." She whispered one night as her head moved to look at me in the dark, her blue eyes shining through the black. "A lot of it… and I just thought that if I… it's pathetic, I know, a leopard can never change its spots but-."

"It's not. It's honourable and, now, we need kindness. You don't have to explain yourself to me, I understand."

She was silent for a few seconds before she mumbled out a weak. "How did you manage to grow up with Tony as your guardian and still be so… gentle?"

"Pepper immunised me."

Natasha came with me, whenever, I went outside. Even if it was to just get a breath of fresh air, I was rarely ever alone; if I wasn't with her, I stayed with Thor or I went with Tony or I hid behind Steve. They implanted these rules on everyone that wasn't trained to kill people. These attitudes of precaution made us all more anxious and terrified; I was constantly looking over my shoulder whenever I went anywhere, even though the streets were bare.

No one walked the streets any more, the only people that drove anywhere were doctors and nurses, and the only course of flight travel was on a Chatari aircraft.

The Chatari were now patrolling every major city in the world and more and more platoons of them were flooding in to fly over the skies. Then there were the humans that were bullied, forced, bewitched or volunteered into the service of pushing people into camps.

They had popped up over the world in a matter of hours; the first few were designed for the weak and the old and the ill left to die in there alone and hungry. They spread 10 by 10 miles along and spanned every space that they would fit. Some had homes, others didn't.

Loki had pushed every single person that he thought would be a threat into them and then the people that he just didn't like. I had no shadow of a doubt that I would have been in a variety of a camp if we hadn't run.

I'd seen Justin Hammer being dragged into one as we left New York State, he was screaming as the Chatari dragged him backwards; however hard he struggled it was never enough.

There were none where we had hidden; the population was so small it wasn't worth it. But in the city a few miles away there were two.

Loki had, also, moved to tackle work. We all did it; it was compulsory for us to carry on our lives as normal, if we were fit and healthy, any tasks that we had before the 'Bliss' were still expected to be carried out and if you didn't have a job before his dictatorship began, you had to have a good reason.

Natasha had gone with Steve to try and find work but they were turned away at the door; the locals had all seen us coming and decided that they wanted nothing to do with whatever we were. Now, they all worked in farmers' fields miles and miles away. They came home exhausted and bitter but we had more money.

This was our reality now. There was no escape from it anymore, no way to deny what was happening. There was no hope anymore. In the first few weeks I would hold out the dream that they would launch into action with a gigantic army and take down Loki and we'd all be saved but… that was a pipe dream of naivety that stung my heart and clouded my head. The only chance I, ever, got to escape from this hell was the stories that I would write. Constantly keeping them close to me and whipping them out whenever no one was around. I hid them under my pillow and whenever I could I scribble on the blank pages until my fingers hurt. Sometimes I would write about ordinary lives and how people should be living there lives; free of Loki and Chatari and intergalactic war; they just had their normal life dramas. The kind that we all should be having right now.

I was 21, for Christ's sake, I should be out having fun and making friends and having strange bedfellows and arguments with people I didn't know. Not having nightmares every other night because I could see every single dark image in heard head; the Avengers dying, the people being tortured to death, Loki's face as he _smiled_ at me.

I remember being shaken awake that morning by Steve, his face hovering just above hers filled with worry; he stopped me from screaming out and drew down to my level, searching my face and, then, glancing up at the slumbering Natasha. Sighing he pulled me out of the room, taking me from the bedroom and into the cramp living room; Thor was sleeping on the sofa with his body wrapped in a blanket.

"Tori… are you…?"

"Don't. Please, you can't tell Tony." I said, quickly. Watching as he stared at me for a few seconds with a torn expression.

"He's going to need to know; in any case, you'll have to be moved into somewhere where someone can calm you down quickly; Natasha needs her sleep. You can't-."

"You think that I don't know that, Steve?" I whispered, grabbing a chair and turning it so that I could fall down into it, sighing heavily. "But it's not as if I can stop it and if I could, I would."

Steve moved forward and rested into a crouch in front of me, his hands on the sides of the chair I was sat on. "What happened?"

"I can't…"

"I'm not asking for detail… But it'll help you." His voice was soft and calming, like a blanket in the cold or a mother's hold. "Come on; I have them too, you know."

I looked down at my hands and watched as they shook, slightly, I pushed at the skin and heaved out breaths until I was ready to talk. "I keep seeing all these things… the camps, all those people in Manhattan that he had burnt, Japan… I see Tony and Natasha and you and everyone dead and-."

He leapt up and hushed me, pulling me close to him and dragging me into his chest, letting my head rest on his shoulder as he put his arms around me.

"It's just a dream, Tori; none of it is real." He mumbled into my hair. His tone slipped from strong to weak but none of us said anything after it.

Because Steve and I both knew that he didn't mean that, that my nightmares were a direct response as to what was happening in the world. They were the pictures that my head wasn't able to forget, they were the fears that I wasn't able to face, they were the things that I weren't ready to admit were happening.

But there were things in my dream that hadn't happened and wouldn't, I hoped, happen. I just had to focus on that fact; the fact that I was surrounded by people who, now mattered to me but, could also save the world from Loki. They could save the world and they would… eventually.

Steve ducked under to look at my face, smiling warmly at me, rubbing my arms to give me more warmth; his large hands seemed to be able to curl around my weak ass arms. He was so much stronger than me, so much stronger in physicality and emotion. Nothing fazed him; not even a pathetic girl crying on his shirt.

I pulled away, feeling like I was showing him just how weak willed I was. I felt like he just pitied me.

"Hey, look at me." He whispered, dragging my chin up to look into his eyes with gentleness. "It's alright, you know. To feel like you need someone ever once in a while."

"…How did you…?" I asked, pulling back slightly to stare into his handsome face.

He laughed back at me, replying with a quick. "You grew up with Tony Stark as your guardian, you've been independent all your life and the only person you've ever really need is you. But I can guarantee you, even Tony 'I'm so awesome and you lot can all kiss my ass' Stark needs someone, that's why he has Pepper."

I smiled slightly and nodded, not knowing what else to do. Steve laughed out of his nose and nudged me towards the door, letting me lead the way into the kitchen.

"Steve?" I called out as he headed to the fridge; he paused, turning to face me again. "Can you not tell Tony? He's already got so-."

"Your secret is safe with me. Don't worry."

The super soldier grabbed the fridge door, seizing the ingredients he needed to begin making pancakes or cake or whatever it was that he was doing.

The morning rolled on over us, the Avengers all made their dazed waltz into the kitchen as the smelt the fumes of the pancakes; Fury even pulled himself away from the small desk he was nailed to; Pepper and Jane both used the bathroom, one after another, while they could and Maria Hill never, ever, joined us for breakfast.

"I don't feel too well…" Nat mumbled under her breath, her long fingers slid the half full plate away from her and went to her lips as she swayed.

"Romanoff, in a minute we're gonna start calling you the Green Wido-." Tony began but Natasha cut him off by rushing from the room, her feet smacking the kitchen tiles as she went to the sink, dodging Thor and Steve to reach it.

I dropped my fork and ran after her, hearing the sound of her vomiting, I grabbed some water from the side and put it next to her head; then I pulled the grown hair from her face, hearing her soft moan of protest at being helped.

"What's wrong?" I whispered my mouth close to her ear so that she was the only one that heard. "Are you-?"

"No, don't be stupid." She snapped, harshly, her head turned to glare at me but she couldn't handle it. He hands gripped the edges of the sink as she hurled up her little bit of batter.

"Nat, are you gonna be okay for work today?" Steve asked, stepping closer but flinching and deciding to stay back as she upchucked in response.

"Not right now, Steve." I mumbled, pulling her up and quickly setting her down on Thor's make shift bed in the front room, her forehead sweating and her eyes feverish. Tony ran in, handing me a bucket and ran out again, his voice letting out a shriek as she threw up into it.

"Oh, how embarrassing." She muttered, throwing her body back down onto the sofa's pillows and keeping the bucket close to her. I pushed back her scarlet fringe and pulled myself up and away from the feeble woman.

The men, which we had left in the room, couldn't be hidden further away from the door with the television turned up to the loudest setting that they could get; Fury was even humming loudly.

"Is she alright?" Steve asked, he was the closest to the door, his face filled with concern.

"I don't know, I don't think it's anything serious; just flu."

"FLU! Flu is serious, Tori! Flu is the Devil's way of sending punishment to this Earth! Flu is… evil!" Tony yelled, pushing himself into the wall behind him as he heard Natasha throw up, again.

"Stop being so dramatic, Stark." I snapped, glaring at flamboyant billionaire. "Besides if Natasha has flu than the only people in this house to not get it will be Steve and Thor; there's nothing you can do about it."

"Hardly seems fair though… I'm too young to die." He whimpered, his head falling down to land on chest.

"You're 46." I spat.

Tony's head shot up; the glare that he was wearing was one of the worst I had ever seen him wear; it was even worse than the one he gave Loki. "45."

"Anyway…" Steve interrupted, giving me and Tony the same fatherly pointed look. "We still have a problem, Nat obviously can't go to work and we need the money that she was bringing in today. What are-?"

"I'll do it." I said, quickly and plainly. Their heads all snapped to face me sharply and wore the same of expression of 'No way in hell.'

"Oh come on. It's not like it's tough work and if Nat was able to do it all these weeks than so can I."

"Thanks, Tori!" She called, from the other room, her voice dripping in sarcasm and bitterness.

"It's not that-." Fury began, slowly.

"It's that Loki has seen your face-." Clint seconded his voice just as equally patronising and low.

"… and there are men out there in that place that I do not want you meeting."

"But also you're a way to get at the Avengers; Loki probably has people looking for you." Steve said, his eyebrows rose at Tony.

"I would think that Loki has better things to do than worry about me… Like looking for the Avengers?" I spat, glancing from one to the other. They all frowned back at me, even as I turned to Steve and Thor.

"Steve, all these weeks you've been working in the same place; day after day after day. Have you ever once seen a Chatari or a Legion?"

Steve opened his mouth but had to shut it as he thought about his response, pouting and frowning at me. "Well that doesn't mean that Loki isn't looking for us."

"But it does mean that he hasn't found us." I said, shaking my finger at him, I turned to face Thor; staring up into his impassive face. "In all the news have you heard or seen anything about me or Pepper or Jane or any of us?"

"There were some articles about not trusting the Avengers but nothing was mentioned about you."

"You see? I'm safe. Besides I know how to defend myself, I spent all that time beating you up for a reason." I said, looking at Tony imploringly. "Come on, do you really want to send one of the others out there?"

They agreed begrudgingly and I ran up the stairs to get ready; I dipped my head into the shower and pulled it out after I pushed the shampoo on. I couldn't be greedy about water now, there was so many of us and we had to learn how to conserve.

I yanked on a loose vest and shorts, digging my feet into a pair of boots and throwing a jacket over my arm. My hair was pulled up into a bun and Pepper slapped some sun cream onto my pale flesh. I dodged passed her and hissed as she squirted more onto my exposed legs.

"I am doing you a favour! I remember Marrakesh!" I rolled my eyes and tripped down the stairs, finding Steve at the bottom waiting for me; with Clint at his side.

"I thought that it was your day off." I said, slowly; watching as Fury threw him a bow and sheath of arrows. "Oh, come on."

"Tori, they have to ensure you are safe, no matter where you are. Clint Barton can see everything that you cannot; do not be proud." Thor said, appearing from the other room, a plate of pancakes tucked into his chest.

"Nice to see that your appetite has returned, Thor." I said, pulling on the jacket and following Steve to the door. "I do, however, fear for the dishes."

He laughed as we left the house, Clint trailing behind us with toast sticking out of his mouth. Steve pulled me over to his bike and stuffed my head into a little helmet on the back, I sighed and glared up at him but he just smirked and swung his leg over the seat, waiting for me to do the same.

Clint smirked at me from inside the car as I rested my hands on Steve's waist and held onto him, I leaned forward and muttered in his ear. "Just, you know, drive into his car and crush him."

We laboured in the fields for a few hours, picking the grain or whatever it was that we were doing. By the end of our first shift, my back was killing me. How Natasha managed to do this every day astounded me.

I let out a sigh of relief and fell down to the ground, hitting it with an 'oof'. Steve sighed, dropping the metal object in his hand and settling next to me. Basking in the warm sun as it hit his alabaster skin; bitch probably didn't even burn.

"Have you ever worked like this before?" He asked his voice either sincerely curious or rude.

"We do things a little differently to the way they were when you were my age, when was that… 100 years ago?"

His hand hit my face and he rolled me away from him, I laughed as he did so, throwing my head up to look at him. He smiled down at me and shook his head, letting his eyes roll back under his lids and close as the sun hit him.

I stood up and cracked my back and neck, checking the lane to look for the shop that I had seen as we drove here; it was about a mile and a bit down to the left. Not that long a distance in New York but in bloody Texan heat it seemed an eternity away.

"You're not going." Steve said, taking my ankle in his hand and keeping me in place. I sighed, spinning around to face him and watching as he opened his eyes to look at me.

"Please, Steve, I need a cold drink."

"Then I'll go-." He made his way to stand but I shoved him back into the ground, one hand on his shoulder.

"No, please, just let me go. I swear, I'll be right back." I stared into his eyes, blinking once or twice and keeping my eyes as big and wide as I could without looking like a frog.

I saw him waning as he looked at me, his hand relinquishing its warm grip on my leg. Turning away from me he mumbled something about getting him one too. I smiled, kissed his check and skipped over to the road, heading towards the small little shop.

As I neared it, I could see the sign flickering above the top of the door, it was small rustic and in desperate need of T.L.C. but it sold coke so I wasn't complaining. I pushed open the rusty door, the hinges creaking as I forced the effort onto the worn wood. The floorboards buckled and dipped beneath me but they managed to stay in place, the woman leaning on the desk glanced at me when I walked in but said nothing, just looked back at the magazine she was reading.

I found the fridge and grabbed the handle, picking up two cokes by their tops and grasping them tightly. I paid her with some of the money I'd grabbed before running from Stark Tower and left; making my way back to Steve and Clint.

I was halfway there when I heard it, the sound of the Chatari aircraft over my head, and then the sound of it stopping and moving down closer to me. Dropping right in front of me and behind me. Blocking me in. Cutting off my exits.

I barely had to think or act, I just stood there frozen in place with my heart thundering against my chest and head screaming orders at me, orders that I failed to comply to.

The bottles slipped from my hands and smashed at my feet, I was sent flying onto my back as a Chatari slapped me around the face, my head hit the aircraft behind me and I lost my grip on reality.

My heads calls got weaker and my heart beats were dulled. All I could think, as the world grew black around me, was Steve waiting for me in the fields, Clint panicking as I failed to return, Tony's face as they told him, Natasha's yells, Pepper's grief… The burn on the arm that they would mark me with in the labour camp.


	3. Chapter 3

**I know this is a quick update compared to my other one but I just got really into the swing of this and kept writing and writing. I'd like to thank everyone for their support as well, and my mum for buying me my new laptop, my dad for letting me using it so much, and my dog for inspiring me. PEACE OUT!**

"Stay safe..." my mother whispered into my ear, her hands gripping my arms with a cobra's strength; her head close to mine and her lips staying near my ear; to keep what she was saying private. I looked at Tony from across the road and saw the urge to leave in his eyes. "Whatever happens, stay safe and stay who you are."

I coughed, putting my head into the crease of her neck and breathing in her smell, knowing that I would never smell it again. I pulled at her copper trellises and wrapped my fingers into them, like I would as a child, it used to calm me but now nothing would.

"My child, you have to stay strong." She mumbled her voice breaking on the last syllables and choking her. "He's going to try everything he can to break you but you can't give in. You have to keep them safe."

I felt my arms drop around her, I put a distance between the two of us and glanced around for Tony but the guardian was gone. His car was gone. The street around us had vanished into a calm horizon.

She grabbed me, again, this time more fiercely, scratching at the skin in her haste to grab my attention and keep it. "Mum… what's happening…?"

"Loki will threaten you with everything he has; he will be kind, he will be cruel, he will be cold, he will be a man of change but whatever he tries you have to remember it's all lies. You are strong, you are capable. You are important to him." I stared at her; her eyes dark with fear and pain, her skin a light glow contrasting with the original memory of her pasty and pale flesh, her voice was different; now it was heavier and deeper contorted by her fear and desperation. "The Avengers need you; Tony needs you; the World needs you. So, whatever happens you have to be…" He head shot up as the grass began to recede around us, dipping into a dark blanket. She dropped my arms and stepped back, her chest heaving as she stared at the ground.

"Oh, my! Tory remember that I love you! Remember that I will always love you!"

"MUMMY! Please, don't leave me! Not again! Mum!"

"TORY!"

But she was gone and the darkness had engulfed me, grabbing me selfishly and greedily their arms twisting around my body like chains, pinning me into the ground. I screamed and thrashed against them, kicking and biting and hitting and bucking and scratching.

My face was slapped; hard. A cold hand snapping the cheek with a resounding sound, my head ricocheted left and right. The pain searing around me; I'd never been slapped like that before.

My eyes were thrown open and I stared at the surrounding; I was in a large metallic control room, grey wall stared back at me, caging me in were men; all of them carrying guns of various nature and style. Computers were buzzing at the side lines, people staring transfixed as they madly tapped into the keys, their eyes manic and worn, their uniform were S.H.I.E.L.D. I was in the Helicarrier.

I looked to the front and saw Loki, leaning forward in a chair. His sceptre in his hand, his legs spread as he looked at me, a smirk staining his face. Green eyes glinting with glee.

I breathed in and shook with trepidation, fear and pain; the man who had slapped me wore a dark green uniform, his hand shaking at his side now balled into a fist.

"Larson, that was not very kind. She is a guest here; she is to be treated fairly." Loki reprimanded, although his voice was bubbling with laughter.

"She was hurting my men." He said, casting a look back at the demi god, a light pout on his lips. "I had to control her somehow."

"Well, she woke up in a new place with a group of thuggish men stood over her; wouldn't you fight back?"

Larson sighed; he stepped back but glared at both of us from the desk he was leaning on. The men that he was commanding let go of me, dropping me onto the metal floor; one of them kicked me in the back as he trotted away.

I tried to raise my hand to brush the bruise forming but I couldn't move it; glancing down I saw them trapped together with a twisted form of gold metal, a lock was a bright blue gem.

I raised my head up to glare at Loki, it seemed like the only thing I could do. He laughed at me, his face forming into a soft and patronising smile. He swayed out of the golden throne and slipped down the steps towards me, his long legs taking graceful and deliberately slow strides.

As he reached me, I crawled back, my legs pushing me to the farthest point I could reach. I hit the window behind me and felt the cold glass on my back. Loki frowned and knelt down, his hands reaching out and stroking my arm down to the manacles. I shivered and pulled back but I couldn't get them away from him.

The sceptre drifted upwards and he tapped them letting them vanish from my wrists. We looked down at the joints to see the pale flesh torn and ripped into a red raw state.

"That looks painful." He muttered, taking my arms in his hands and turning them so he could see it all the way around; his face the picture of the Good Samaritan, a façade that never reached his cold eyes. "I can help you with that; if you like."

"No, thank you." I spat, reaching to push myself up but my legs were still wobbling and I couldn't hold my own weight. My body fell to the side, Loki's arms jumping out to catch me before I hit the floor. His reflexes and strength marvelled me but I barely had time to focus on it before he pulled me into his chest and cradled me like a child.

"Do not be stubborn, Victoria Stark. You do not need this pain; you have the ability to rid yourself of it. Be gracious and accept."

I hissed at the statement, attempting to push myself away from him. Trying to claw my way back to the ground but Loki's grip on me tightened considerably around me.

"I am not being stubborn; I am standing on the principle of not accepting the help of a murderer and dictator."

"You flatter me, my dear."

I let out a scoff and rose up my hand, reaching up to shove him away from me and then… I don't know, run somewhere. But, once again, Loki reached out and grabbed my hurt wrist, twisting the skin around like a Chinese burn. I let out a yell and gasped from the pain; his hands were ice cold and bitter like metal, they were tight in grasp, nails digging into the ripped skin.

"Do not try to insult me with this attitude. I can be gentle and sweet to you if you accept it; or I can be malicious and bitter, it is your choice."

"I don't care!"

Loki sighed and chucked me from him, standing up with a twirl and storming away from me, his hair bobbing as he walked away. Shouting over his shoulder, "Take her to her room! Make sure that she is ready for the broadcast! Use violence if she fails to comply."

I felt my blood drip from my head, running frozen through my veins, my skin turned to a white instead of its normal ivory and I was grabbed from every angle. Pushed onto my feet and shoved forward, my body forced through paths and hallways till we reached a secluded and isolated part of the Helicarrier.

"You have to shower and put on the clothes that we'll leave for you. I'll come back in an hour and check how you're doing." Larson spat into my face, grabbing my neck when he went to add something. "And if you think about not getting ready, if you think about delaying or halting this; in an hour you will get into that shower and you won't be alone."

I heard cat calls and jeers of excitement from the men around us, as they left they were jumping with expectation. The door slammed shut in my face and I threw myself against it, shaking with tears and sobs; my weak and feeble hands slapping the metal in protest. I fell to my knees, my head resting at the bottom of the door, twisting each way to get the cool feeling onto my overheated forehead.

The shower called to me, though, and I stripped and climbed into it. Feeling the warm water fall onto my head was a bit like heaven; after being, weeks, without a long shower like this it was bliss. I must have stayed in there for half an hour.

I stumbled out and found a blue dress lay on my bed; it was a dark midnight colour trailing down from the corset's tip to the bottom where it faded out to a light colour with sequins glinting like stars.

I glared at it, knowing that I was only getting this "gift" to make myself look desirable. I should refuse to wear it, perhaps go through the draws next to the walls and find some tracksuit and wear that instead but I remembered Larson's threat. And fear over took me, despite remembering my mother's warning.

I slipped into it, pulling it over my skin and clasping it at the back. It held itself to me effortlessly; it was so light I could barely feel it. I felt naked and I knew, once I was out there with those men, it would feel worse.

Larson came back when he said he would, his hand holding the gun in his holster; he wasn't alone. Two women cowered behind him, flinching as he raised his hands at me; they stumbled across and forced me into a chair, pulling out make up and jewellery and hair straightener and curlers.

For a long time they preened me, whispering about what to do and how to make me look. What they should do with my face, what they could do with my hair, what would please Loki…

"It doesn't matter; she just needs to look good on television." Larson spat, flicking through his phone as he leaned against the wall, bored. He didn't want to be babysitting some brat.

"I didn't realise I was part of the Hunger Games." I groaned as they tugged at my brown hair, twirling it around a tong.

"More like Big Brother, Katniss." Larson mocked in his diluted French accent.

I rolled my eyes and leant against the back of the chair, twiddling my thumbs.

Not matter what they do, I thought, I'll never be as beautiful as Natasha.

Natasha! No! Where were they? Were Steve and Clint safe? Were they here on the Helicarrier? Had the Chatari found them, too? Were they being tortured? Had one of them told them about the hide out? Were the others safe?

I breathed in and out, deeply, trying to calm myself as the question buzzed loudly around my head like cars on the I-5. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't concentrate on staying calm and focusing on being impassive. When I remembered them, I jumped about five metres into the air and scared everyone in the room. I had to turn and hiss at one of the women, telling her to be careful with the curling irons.

Larson shook his head and went back to the phone. I was fine. No one said anything after that.

When the women moved around, Larson hauled me to my feet and pushed me through the Helicarrier, we made the way back to where we came. I stopped and stared because since I'd left it the control room had been changed.

Gold and green curtains hung around the room and it shone with bright light, majestic like a castle and kingdom. Loki's magical flying fortress of mystery and lies. Children go free.

Larson stayed by my side as people ran around, carrying cables and cameras and other things. Microphones were laid on their sides as people connected them, speakers were being turned on and controlled by computers. What the hell kind of show were they running here?

I frowned as I heard Larson's phone go, breaking my concentration on the tiny little workers, running around on Loki's wishes. I titled my head to hear his quick conversation.

"Banner's done what?" He hissed his anger spiking. "I don't care how you do it, Marcel, but you make sure that he doesn't change into that thing."

He turned his head to face me and noticed that I was watching him. He flipped me his middle finger and headed out of the slim door, switching to French as he left.

Loki came through the doors, fifteen minutes later, a ridiculous helmet on his head and that sceptre clutched in his hand. He pivoted around, with as much grace as Nat, saw me and held out his hand; waiting for me to take it and hold it.

I refused; balling my hands into small fists, turning my head away and igniting his anger. I heard the sharp footfalls as he made his way over, his claws reaching around my waist and clutching me to him; my side hitting his chest and keeping me trained into place.

"Don't forget my warning, Victoria." His voice was like a deadly snake; predatory and calm but ready to strike.

We waited for them to be ready, together; I wasn't brave enough to stray from his side and he wanted to make sure that I knew my place was next to him. Always next to him.

He clicked his fingers as he looked at my bare neck, tutting shamefully. "Something so beautiful needs to be finished with the right decoration." He whispered, as a gold necklace fell into his hands. I had no time to refuse because he'd guided it around my neck, nipping at the skin as it clasped and circled like a living thing; the blue gem glowing next to my heart and humming softly.

I gasped as I felt it take control of me, pushing out my anger and replacing it with a fog of something else. I had to hold onto Loki as I stumbled, fighting it for power over my own head. But it was more powerful than a meagre little mortal like me and it took me over. I wasn't completely gone, I had my own head and thoughts but I knew that Loki had control over my face, mouth, body. I was his doll; his puppet. His pet human chained to him with a golden collar.

It was seven when they were ready and Loki dragged me over to the side, sitting me on a chair next to his throne; just out of the view of the camera.

He took his place, in front of it. Standing tall, slim and King-like. But a selfish, cruel, mean King; the King that had fought his way with murder, that had usurped the kind man and bit off his head. He was Macbeth and Mordred and King Stephen.

I looked away, feeling the tears begging to be released but I knew that if I was going to cry; I would do it alone or in Steve's arms. With someone who cared about me, not someone who would take my weakness and use it to their advantage.

I thought about the super soldier, so gracious and good. He was warm as he held me in his strong arms but Loki's coldness never left him. Not even as you stood next to him and gave him some of your own. Steve would never hurt me but Loki wasn't that fussed about hurting anyone, we were all the same under him. He was the polar opposite to Loki and I needed him now.

I barely had any more time to think about Steve before a man behind a camera called out a set of seconds and I had to put on my poker face, lean back and listen to what Loki was saying.

"My people; I thank you for taking the time to sit and listen to your King. I know that many of you have been uprooted and scared by these changes but this is a good reform. The old ways were violent, ill organised and pathetic; my ways will be a way for you to live your lives free from pain and suffering and unnecessary violence. You will be free all the ghouls that you are terrified of.

"In an hour the former leaders of your world will represent to you the changes for your country. Then they will take a group of men and perform a custodian service to me; they will oversee my plans and enforce them as if they were me. These changes will be tailored to your birth place and they will range for each state, or city, or province, or town. They will suit the ordinary, the old, the young, the eccentric but above all they will suit you."

Really pushing the 'King of the people' spiel, I thought, sighing as he began his next Shakespearean monologue.

"I do not want you to fear these changes. They are good for you. I want you to appreciate them and learn to live with them. I and my Queen," Wait. What?

Loki began to circle and make his way over to his throne, taking his time to smile at me and then the camera. "Will oversee the world from our location. And you can trust in me and this message when I say, I will not abandon my attempts to make this a better place. To all those of you who are living outside the scope of good, I will not abandon my attempts to eradicate you. To all those who are wishing to build a rebellion to come and take away my peace filled reign; I will not abandon my attempts to crush you.

"My Queen and I," he had finally reached the throne and sat down in its cushioned bottom, taking my hand and gripping it. "Make you a promise to love your world as we love each other."

I don't know what my expression looked like but I could feel my repulsion and sick trying to force its way up my throat. I could feel my anger bubbling in my heart. I could feel every nerve in my body telling me that this was not happening, he was lying. He was God of lies; this had to be an illusion.

But it wasn't; this was real.

**This is the changed version, because I reread this and added in some bits because it sounded weird. Lots of love.**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is Steve talking; this whole chapter will be Captain Steve Rogers; who is awesome.**

**Thanks for the reviews guys.**

Hawkeye grabbed me, his hands throwing themselves out to seize me and drag me backwards, throwing me into the corn field next to us. Spinning me out into the ground so that I fell down face first, I felt the ears brush my face and then I hit the ground with a smack, my cheek grazing a rock that thought it would aid my fall.

He ducked down next to me, his bow and arrow balanced in his hands, his eyes glaring at Loki's friends; sighing with relief as they whizzed past us. He stood up and stopped.

I frowned and pushed myself up, standing at his side and watching the Chatari whiz past us; but Clint did relax, he grew tenser as he turned to face me, his face a pale white and his eyes wide, full of fear and adrenalin.

"Where's Tory?" He asked, moving his head around to look at the field around us.

I felt my heart stop as he spoke; what had he seen? Nothing made Hawkeye scared. In New York he faced the Chatari with more courage than the rest of us, not caring that he was an easy target. When we left he volunteered to stay behind and reach Thor and Bruce, nearly getting captured and burned in the process. He's been to the camps and spoken to the people inside them, despite the penalty for that.

But now I was looking at a terrified man and it was scaring me. But what sacred me more was the fact that he mentioned Tory, the fact that he kept scanning the road, the fact that she wasn't back yet.

I ran past him, my feet slamming into the floor as I moved towards the little shop, tripping and falling as I ran for her. She had to be there, she had to be safe.

I was nearly there when I slipped in something, crushing glass beneath my shoe and a liquid slipping on the soles of my shoe. I fell forward, glass ripping into my leg as I fell, cutting the khaki trousers and breaking the skin.

I looked down, hissing at the pain, and staring at the bits of cola bottles on the ground… No.

I felt my heart beat faster then slow and stop. It sat there and filled with guilt, fear, all these things that I couldn't deal with. They'd taken her; she was either going to a camp or to Loki… I don't know which one I preferred.

If she was left in a camp, she'd either starve to death or be burnt alive but if she went to Loki, she'd be alive but tortured out of her mind and left screaming every night.

"Steve! Look at me! Where is she?" Clint grabbed my shoulders and shook me till I looked up at him.

"She… she went to go get a drink… I didn't realise that… I thought…" I couldn't speak in normal sentences, I couldn't think straight. All I could think about was her laughing at me with those vibrant blue eyes, then them changing they'd stop glowing and she'd stop laughing. She'd be broken by whatever happened to her.

Clint's hand came smacking around my face and sent me flying. I pushed myself up and glared at the archer, he just stood over me, his hand going back to my shoulders.

"Where is Victoria Stark?"

"You know where." I said, watching as he looked over his shoulder at the Chatari that were long gone. He let out a small sigh, his shoulders deflating and the bow threatening to fall from his hands. But he jumped into action and hauled me onto my feet, pushing me back towards the car, constantly looking over his shoulder as we trudged back.

I fell into the passenger seat and looked at the ground, wishing that it would swallow me whole so I wouldn't have to face Tony. I didn't want to see his face as we told him, I didn't want to hear his shouts or feel his anger, I didn't want him to break.

They all stared at us as we walked back into the house, moving into the front room and falling onto the seats. Natasha moved up, pushing Jane from her side and gripping the side of the couch as she moved up.

"Tory?" She called, glancing around the space and searching for the tall girl. When she couldn't find her, she jumped up and wobbled on her feet; Clint reaching out to help her but she shoved him away from her and tripped around the house, calling for the girl. Grabbing everyone else's attention causing Tony and Fury to run out from the small dining room to drag her back into bed.

"No! Tony, no; she's missing!" I heard her call. Tony looked back at me but I couldn't keep his gaze. But I could hear his roar of anguish.

"WHAT HAPPENED!" He yelled, running into the front room and grabbing me by the front of my shirt, his adrenalin made him stronger, chucking me from him so that I knocked into the coffee table.

"Tony, calm down!" Clint yelled, crossing the space and standing in between the two of us, his arms outstretched and pushing Tony back away from me. "This wasn't his fault."

"YES, IT IS! The only reason she was out there was to spend more time with wonder boy over there! He said that he was going to protect her; you both did! NOW, SHE'S GONE! SO I WANT SOME FUCKING ANSWERS!"

Tony bucked against him, shoving Clint from each side to reach me.

Thor entered the room and put his arm around Tony's waist dragging him into the air and keeping him constrained against the God, so as much as Tony would fight, there was no way he could get out.

"Tony, honey, please calm down…" Pepper whispered, stepping in dodging the other people in the room and standing in front of Tony, her hand going to his cheek and letting him struggle against it. It took a few seconds but the man calmed and let Thor release him, he tripped fell against Pepper and began shaking.

"What did happen?" Natasha asked, leaning against Jane, her face trying to become controlled and impassive.

"She went to go get some drinks…" I mumbled, not brave enough to raise my eyes above the ground. "She must have been gone 10 minutes or… it wasn't that long. She told me that she'd be right back, I thought that she could handle it but…" I couldn't finish it. I couldn't tell them what I'd done, how foolish I'd been, how naïve I had been.

"The Chatari came and they took her away." Clint finished his voice sharp and strong.

"NO!" Tony yelled, trying to break away from Pepper but the woman wouldn't let him go and he fell to his knees dragging her with him. "HOW COULD YOU LET THAT HAPPEN!"

"I didn't mean for it to happen…" I offered, pathetically but Tony wasn't paying attention anymore and what I said next didn't help. "I swear, Tony, I thought she'd be all right…"

He leapt for me whacking me around the face and laying into me, roaring and grunting with every punch, smack and hit; his anger, his aggression, his pain pouring into his strength as he broke my skin. "IT… SHOULD… HAVE… BEEN… YOU!"

I let out a whimper but didn't try and stop him as he attacked me, I let him hurt me as I'd hurt him because I thought that it was the least I could do.

"TONY! STOP IT! PLEASE!" Pepper yelled, grabbing his fists and dragging them back, pulling him off me and kneeling in front of him. "Tony, sweetheart, please don't…."

"She's gone, Pepper, they're gonna kill her… they're gonna kill her or rape her or burn her or break her… she's gone, Pepper."

Nobody said anything, they just let Tony sob into Pepper's arms.

Jane moved forward, passing Nat to Thor and grabbing me, hauling me onto my feet and leading me from the room. Her arm going around me but only for a few seconds, she dropped me onto a seat next to the table and got to work on the injuries that were littered around me. I just sat there and let her. I sat there and breathed, waiting for Jane to finish.

She was wrapping up my leg when she looked up at me and whispered. "She wouldn't want you to blame yourself."

I looked down at the gentle woman and frowned at her. "How can I not?"

"Because, as amazing as you are," She said, standing up and flicking some blood off of my cheek. "You can't see the future, you weren't to know."

"I should have at least been cautious and gone with her-."

Jane laughed and looked down at me, softly, glancing over her shoulder as Thor walked in. "She was feeling smothered, that's why she went, she'd have kicked your ass if you went everywhere with her."

"What if we can't get her back? You still going to believe I'm not to blame?"

Jane looked at me, a lump forming in her throat and she cast her eyes downwards, looking at the ground. But she didn't have to say anything, I had her answer.

"You best get the girl back then, Steven, hadn't you?" Thor asked, standing stoically at the doorway, his body casting a shadow on the ground and his entire body practically filling the room. "Stop at nothing."

I looked up at him and watched his impassive expression soften, his eyes going back to their normal state for a few seconds.

I sighed and moved across to the table, looking at Fury's map of America and going over it a few times, the God moved across and began to help me.

We worked like that for a few hours before Maria moved into the room and announced. "King Loki's making a broadcast in about two minutes. You'll want to see this."

I glanced up at him and watched as his face became dark and dangerous but the fear seeped in as well. He was thinking what we all were at that moment; what could Loki possibly have to say?

I walked over to the living room, watching as everyone else stared, transfixed, to the screen; no one bothered to look up at me, no one bothered to say anything to me. That was fine, I understood why.

Tony jumped as Pepper whispered something into his ear, his red eyes looking up at me and frowning. He shook as he moved onto his feet, everyone tensed as he reached me. But he just nodded to me and led me over to the couch, making me sit next to him. He leaned forward and didn't say a word. I wondered whether it was exhaustion or shock.

The channel buzzed and a symbol appeared on the screen; a silver snake emblazoned with flecks of gold and green, a blue eye winking at us. The silver tongue poking out as it curled around the World; to all others it would look like it was protecting the Earth but we knew that the snake was crushing it.

"That's nice; I wonder whether he drew it himself." Clint said, nonchalantly. Natasha whacked him but said nothing as others around the room sniggered.

Then it vanished and it was replaced with Loki, standing over a camera, in front of a hundred curtains that seemed to ruffle with no wind. His helmet extenuated his height and his flamboyant outfit made him appear stronger than he was.

"Is it just me or does that place look familiar?" Nat muttered as Loki began talking.

His message was a revamp and restyle of his rhetoric in Stuttgart; though still hiding the same message of superiority and power over the rest of us. It was kinder, though, he'd had some coaching to make sure that he didn't sound like a twat. Now, it was all sunshine and lollipops from Loki, instead of the old death, violence, war, death, death and, oh, more death.

He made himself seem like a blessing and if I didn't know what he was really capable of and who he was and what he'd done; I'd have believed him.

"I and my Queen will oversee the world from our location." Loki said, as he began to move, the camera following him.

"Loki has a Queen? How?" I asked, echoing everyone's thoughts.

"On Asguard he was married to a woman named Sigyn but she cannot cross from Asguard to Midguard. It is impossible…" The God trailed off as he stared at the screen because he was right; it wasn't Loki's wife sat there waiting for him.

It was Tory.

She gazed up at him, love on her face and passion there too. She was sat with her hand outstretch on the post between his throne and her chair. The dress she was wearing complimented her and lifted her chest, tucking her in and trailing down to her feet where it floated down. She was beautiful and for a second I was lost in her beauty but then I heard Loki's voice and remembered what was happening.

Loki moved to sit next to her, reaching to take her hand in his and grip it with long fingers. He was looking a her with the same hunger that a dog would stare at a bowl of meat. It made me sick.

She just stared at him with a love stricken expression but then I noticed her eyes. She was furious.

Tory was still in there, somewhere, she was fine. And I realised something I hadn't before; she was alive. Also, if Loki was announcing she was his Queen that meant that people would expect to see her and he couldn't kill her. We had that blessing at least.

I'd spaced out for the most of his conclusion and I didn't hear what he had said, I just knew it was directed at us.

"My Queen and I make a promise to love your World as much as we love each other."

"NO!" I yelled, jumping out of the seat and glaring at the screen but his face was hidden behind the emblem and he was gone. He couldn't hear me. But, regardless of the distance, he knew that we had seen that and he knew that he had forced a reaction out of us.

"What the hell? Why would she do that to us?" Maria snapped, reaching to steal the remote from Clint and turn the T.V. off but he seized it tightly and glared at Fury's favourite.

"Don't be stupid, Hill, she'd under his spell; just like I was. That wasn't her… did you see her eyes?" He asked, looking at Romanoff. The spy nodded and seconded Clint. "It was that stupid snake necklace he was making her wear, it messed with her head…. That wasn't Tory."

"Can you say that with all certainty Barton?" Fury asked, taking a stance next to Hill, looking down at the archer with a commanding expression.

"I can; Loki is God of Mischief, a master of lies and deceit. But he is also a commander of tricks, that trinket is child's play now that his powers have been heightened by the Tesseract." Thor rumbled, his hand clenched at his side and his other holding Jane's.

"She looked like she was complicit." Hill spat at him.

"You have no idea the things that Loki can make you do, once he's in your head. It's like you've lost your control on your own body; he can make you do anything."

"Even have sex with him?" Tony asked, looking up at the rest of us with tear stained eyes. "Could he do that?"

No one dared answer him because we didn't have an answer. Thor couldn't say anything because he didn't know the depths of Loki's depravity, anymore. Clint had nothing to say because he'd never had that kind of experience. Natasha had only experience in that kind of thing but she didn't want to scare Tony as she was scared.

"Yes, he could." Clint whispered, watching as Tony let out a bitter, mirthless laugh and let his head drop into his hands.

"Great."

The room was silent, each face hidden so that no one else would look at them. No one spoke for a while.

"So, we have to think subjectively." Fury said, trying to jump everyone in action. "Why did Loki show us that?"

"To promote his message that he's the messiah coming to lead us from the bad guys." Clint said, looking up at the one eyed man. Fury nodded but began pushing for more answers.

"Yes, this message was meant for the World to understand but it was more so meant for us. He wanted us to see that for a reason, why?"

"To shock you." Jane whispered, rubbing her face and blinking a few times. "To make you see that if you tried to attack him he has some leverage on you."

"Or to make sure that you lot know how dangerous he is. Make you think that he knows where we are and that he could send Chatari for the rest of us." Pepper said her hands on Tony's back.

"Make him seem more lenient." Jane said nodding as Pepper looked at her. The two women looked at Fury and he smiled at them slightly as Natasha began to speak.

"I don't think he's trying to appear lenient. I think that if he knew where we were, he'd send Chatari for the rest of us, get us out of the way and execute us, like he did with… Bruce. But he's leaving us, so I think that the Chatari finding her was a stroke of luck. Something he was waiting for."

"That would explain why he put of making a broadcast till now." Said Clint.

"But why that? Why would he use her like that?" Hill asked, her arms folding across her chest. "I mean, no offence she's nice but Loki hates all humans, why would he use one like that?"

"Because she's famous for being my adoptive daughter; people know who we are. So, they will see that if Tory has sided with Loki and has married Loki," Tony laughed, again bitterly. "Then the rest of the World we know that the Avengers have failed and the World is lost. That there's no hope."

"So, they'll give up trying to find us." I agreed. Tony stood up and walked across to me, leaning on me as I grabbed his arm. "They'll think that we're dead."

"Loki's one sick bastard." Tony whispered, falling slightly, his knees buckling, as he feinted.

"Tony!"

"Stark!"

I lowered him to the ground and shook his head, trying to wake him but it worked about as much as a wooden sword in a gun fight. Pepper landed on her knees next to him, her nails ripping through the shirt as she frowned, then I saw why.

The circle that powered him, it normally shone like a candle in the dark but the light was dimming. It was a tenth of the power it normally was.

"Pepper, what does that mean?"

"If this stops working… Tony's going to die."

**DUNDUNDUN! OHMYGOD! NOT TONY! Just thought I'd throw that out there. I want to thank you all for the support, please keep it coming. Also, if there are any aspiring artists out there I would be ever so grateful if I could see my emblem come to life. OHHH! WE COULD HAVE A CONTEST AND I COULD PICK WHICH ONE IS BEST AND SEND YOU AN INTERNET COOKIE! : D lots of love.**


	5. Chapter 5

**BOO! SCARED YA'! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHahaha… no? Really? Shame. Onwards chapter 5.**

The broadcast finished and there was a silence throughout the room, apparently the rest of the place was as shocked about this as I was. The crew members' faces as followed me, mirroring looks of horror and pity. Loki's helpers all smirked at each other, whispering things in each other's ears that made them giggle like teenagers. The people that had been sat at the computers, waiting for the broadcast to finish were all patiently sat there, their eyes transfixed to the screens that they were looking at.

I felt the fog in my head slip and thin and I took the opportunity to attack it with everything I had, thrashing at the wisps of Loki that occupied every part of my head that I wanted kept private. As I did so, I felt Loki flinch and tighten his grip on my hand; put I couldn't feel any pain, so I kept fighting. Letting him, practically, crush my hand in his as I attacked the fog.

He leapt forward, finally, tearing the necklace from me and throwing it across the room, it headed towards Larson but before it could reach him it vanished into a puff of smoke. I watched it and then gasped, grabbing my hand as Loki left my head, feeling nothing but pain as I held on it.

Loki stumbled onto his feet, glaring at me as he paced. His chest heaving as he tried to control himself but his hands began to clench it fists and the human part of him took over.

He struck me on my cheek, sending me flying into the ground, the chair landing on top of my legs and trapping me there as he knelt in front of me, his hand grabbing my brown locks and using them to haul me onto my feet, pushing me into the closest wall.

"That was incredibly rude." He breathed, a growl ebbing at his voice. "After just done for you, as well."

"What you've done for me! You've done nothing for me!" I yelled, kicking at his shins and pushing him away from me, ignoring the stinging from my cheek as I spoke. "The only thing you've done for me is provided me with a bull's eye on my back."

"On the contrary, my dear, I've provided you with immunity and a lifestyle free from that which will fall on your friends and fellow humans." His voice changed back to its patronising tone as he dropped me, letting me jump away from him and back into the closest corner.

"You know, when you start talking in riddles, Hamlet, no one can understand you." Loki let out a laugh and moved from me to throw his body over the chair like you would a blanket over a sleeping child.

"You can tell that you grew up with Tony Stark as a great influence." He mocked, turning his head to look at me; I wondered what I looked like. Clutching my hand to my chest as it began to swell and bruise; red wrists that were hidden behind large gold bracelets; a bruise on each cheek, Loki's punch had also trailed down to my jaw bone; make up still perfect but my hair a mess. I suppose the dress didn't help the defiant look that I was aiming for, either.

"I have given you the opportunity to be a Goddess, worshipped by humans, loved by them, adore by them. You can be the Queen of the World, you do realise that that is a big deal, correct?" He mocked, raising a thin black eyebrow as he leaned forward. "This is something that I would not care to, even, throw at another human being. It comes with a tirade of capacities that others dream of having. You can dine with the finest foods, wear the most elegant and seductive things, learn what you want, live where you want, have whatever you want. It is a gift, Victoria, and it is only available to you."

"I don't care, I don't want it." I spat, venomously, glaring at him with all the hate I could muster. "Choose a different girl that will follow you around and worship the ground you walk on, choose a girl that will kiss your ring and let you rape her people but I won't! I won't be a part of this EVIL! I won't have innocent blood on my hands. I won't be your Bitch."

By now, I had stepped forward with each syllable I punched out so that I was stood in front of Loki, looking down at him as he watched me; half amused, half angered. As I finished, I expected a sharp punch or a kick or to be beaten into submission, I expected the worst pain I'd ever known but I didn't expect him to just sit there and smirk at me.

"Well, my love, whether you like it or not, you are my Bitch and you'll perform the loving duties of being my Bitch." His voice, English accented like mine, mocked me by repeating my words. His eyes glinting up at me with the same anger I had but his was lying underneath the hunger and superiority that he was stanching of.

"And how are you going to enforce that?" I asked, tilting my head to look at him. "If I refuse it's not as if you can kill me, people are going to want to see your _Queen," _I spat out the word like it was poison. "You can't kill me."

"Oh, I have no intention of killing you. None. I have something worse in plan for your punishment."

I rolled my eyes and glared down at him. "And what is that?"

Loki smirked and it was the worst smirk I'd ever seen, like a wolf that was closing in on a rabbit. Like a cat that had caught the whiff of a mouse. Like a man watching a girl walk home alone, imagining all the things that he would do to her.

"Larson, are you feeling particularly, what was it? Trigger happy?" Larson nodded, smiling as his hand went to his gun pulling it out of the holster and flicking the safety catch. "Good." Loki said, turning his head back to look at me. "Shoot the woman."

I barely had time to brace myself for the pain before Larson pulled the trigger. I let out a gasp as I heard the shot ricochet around the metal room. I heard someone yell in pain but it was headed for me…

I cast a look over my shoulder and saw the young woman, the one I had snapped at and blamed for burning me, falling to the cold. Her hands pushing at the wound on her stomach, trying to staunch the blood. She screamed as she looked down, her body beginning to shake with pathetic sobs and cries. Her huge brown eyes found mine and she begged me to help her, tears pouring out of them with every move she made. Every breath she took, she got closer to her last.

I ran out but Loki grabbed my wrist, dragging me back to him and pushing me down to my knees as he took hold of my hand. I let out a shaky breath and tried to pull myself from it but with every protest he held on tighter, chaining me to him.

"You say that you don't want innocent blood on your hands, well I offer you this wager, whenever you challenge me, whenever you refuse to do my bidding, and whenever you act rude I will have Larson kill someone. It'll be someone on this ship who has done you a service, someone you pitied and wondered what happened to them before this and what might have happened to them after. You will stay here, on your knees and watch as each breath they take welcomes them to death. You will know that you caused that and by extension; you will be a part of the evil."

I felt the tears begin to fall down my cheeks as his cruelty, unwavering, radiated off of him. I felt the tears begin to fall down my cheeks as I watched the girl slip down to the ground, her eyes dimming and her hands shaking.

"Now, are you willing to stand by my side as I-?"

"Yes! For God's sake, yes! Just let me go!"

Loki dropped me, as if by surprise, and I launched myself into a run, tripping over the train of the dress and falling over to her side. She seemed to crawl away as I reached her but she let me take her hand and hold it in my own. I pulled myself up and brushed the tears off of her dark cheeks, my own falling onto them.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I whispered, holding onto her as she began to dip in and out of consciousness. "Please, stay awake, stay with me."

She opened her mouth but, as she began speaking, blood seeped out of the corners and she choked on it, I pushed it away, frantically. Cleaning her face with the corner of the dress.

Her hand moved out and she pulled me down so that I had my ear close to her lips, her voice small and uncontrolled as she whispered. "I forgive you…"

Then she was gone.

Her hand dropping from me and her eyes falling from brown to a dull black, her mouth falling open to lay lax and her body slumping into the metal. She was gone, she was dead…

I don't know why I began screaming. I just couldn't help it, I was mourning for someone I didn't know. Someone good, someone whole. An innocent at the edge of the war who was dead because of me. I didn't even realise I was screaming until I heard them filling up the room, like a howl, I thought it was the woman who had helped me but she was at the side line watching me. Then I noticed that it was me; I was screaming. I was howling creature that sounded like it needed to be put down.

Someone grabbed my shoulders and seized me, hauling me onto my feet and dragging me up. I looked across and saw Loki, smirk gone and shock on his face, then a needle hit my skin and the sedative was pumped in. Knocking me out.

When I came to, I knew it was days later by the way that my muscles refused to move and the way that a voice to the left of me said. "Is she only just waking up? It's been four days. Taking her fucking time."

It was Larson, his voice dripping with boredom and hate.

Another voice, belonging to man that was moving from the side of the room and across to me, shot back. "The sedative you used was made for the other guy, and it would only work for a few hours on him; you're lucky you didn't stop her heart with your stupidity."

"You know, what, Banner? Go fuck yourself; I did what I did to stop her from hurting herself. I did what I could for her-."

"You did what you did because you wanted to shut her up because she was annoying you." Bruce said impatiently, his voice closer to me now. "Don't try and act noble with me, Larson, I know you."

I heard the man say something bad in French and storm from the room, the door shutting behind him with a snap and lock. Bruce let out a sigh of relief and put his hand on my shoulder, shaking me lightly.

"They're gone; you can open your eyes."

I blinked them open, wincing a few times as the light hit me, blinding me as I woke up. He let out a curse and stood up, going over to the switch and dimming the lights to a dull light.

"Thank you." I croaked, feeling my throat as the words scratched their way out of me.

"Sorry, I should have done that when you started waking up; I know what it's like to have light hit you after been asleep for a long time." Bruce laughed, picking up a cup and handing it to me, his large hands holding mine for a few seconds as he smiled at me. "Are you all right? How's your hand?"

I looked down at it and saw it encased in a heavy plaster. I attempted to wiggle the fingers but as I did so I felt my hand electrified with pain. I let out a hiss and tried wobbling it to get rid of the pain but Bruce grabbed my elbow, holding it to stop me from hurting myself.

"Yeah, that's not a brill idea, Tory." He said, putting it back down on the bed and standing up. Crossing the room to pick up some things that I couldn't see, he brought them back to me and I noticed that they were ointments and creams. "These should help with the painting on your face."

"How bad is it?"

He glanced up at me as he unscrewed a lid and frowned. "I've certainly seen worse but it does look like you've gone two rounds with a kangaroo."

"Do kangaroo's normally hit people?" I asked, wincing at Bruce lathered some cream on my cheek then continued it down to the corner of my jaw.

"I don't think so. It's just something people say." He laughed, swapping to the other cheek and applying it more carefully.

We sat there for a while him checking over my bruises and cuts, of which there were many, and me performing medical marvels for him; like moving my knees.

Bruce was right; the sedative that they rammed into my calf was designed to bring down the Hulk. Not only did it knock you out but it immobilized your muscles so that it was easier for them to move him. So, now, it was a difficult feat to even move. I couldn't even think about shifting my toes, my knees creaked when I tried to move them so I didn't bother.

"You're doing well." He said, taking my leg and putting down in a straight line on the bed, I just fell back, against the pillows and muttered.

"I don't feel like it. I feel weak, pathetic, and_ meagre._"

"That's just the way that Loki wants you to feel, you're only like it because he's made you think that you are. He wants you to be weak so that he can break you and put you around his little finger but you're not. You're remarkably strong."

"No, I'm not. I broke down when I saw someone die and after-."

"After all you've been through, Tory; it's amazing that you can get out of bed in the morning." Bruce interrupted, his voice angered but calm.

I turned and looked up at him, watching as he sighed and dragged the chair back up to my head to talk to me. "You lose your dad when you're born, you lose your mum to brain cancer, you grow up with a man who gets kidnapped and nearly dies once and then leaves and nearly dies again, you make it through a city that is gradually burning to the ground around you, and you pass through states seeing God only knows what horrors. On your first day here, you stand up to Loki and challenge him like no one ever has before, you don't flinch as he hurts you, and you make him see that emotions are important and that what he did was extreme. You keep pushing back the pain and worry to make your way through life." Bruce laughed, bringing himself closer to me to hold my little hand in his saucepan ones. "You're so much stronger than you know; you're so much braver than you think, and smarter than you can ever comprehend."

I sniffed pushing back the tears that were threatening to fall down my cheeks, laughing shakily at his last sentence. "Revamping Winnie the Pooh?"

"I thought that it would be useful but I couldn't remember the quote."

I nodded, letting out a breath and blinking to combat the flow of tears but then he wrapped an arm around me and I couldn't stop them. I couldn't even try; I just fell onto his shoulder and began sobbing.

Bruce held me tightly, his hand on mine and the other hand going to my shoulder and gripping it tightly.

But then the door opened and Bruce let out a yelp of pain, jumping away from me and leaping to the other side of the room, his hands on his neck. Loki smirked at him as he entered the room, moving towards me and taking the seat that Bruce had vacated.

His eyes trailed down me, sighing, taking in what a state I must have been in. When they reached the cast, his eyebrows slanted down, his cold hands moved out and he hauled it up to his lap, turning it around so that he could see it again.

"What is this?" He asked, throwing a look over his shoulder as he addressed Bruce. The doctor glared at him, breathing deeply, but stepped forward to talk to him.

"It's a cast, to help her hand heal. Although, I doubt it'll ever work the same again."

Loki's head snapped up and he stared from me to Bruce, panic hiding in his eyes, his hands clenched on my arm and I winced in pain, pulling away.

"Why not? What is so wrong with her hand?"

"You crushed the bones; she won't be able to use the outer fingers again. But she is able to flip you the bird."

I smiled at Bruce over the top of Loki's head and watched as he winked at me quickly and covertly.

"Can you not fix it?" Loki asked, ignoring the smiles we were exchanging with each other.

"Sorry, no, I missed that part where they explained about growing bones." He said, loftily, turning around and heading back to his work as he muttered. "I'm sorry, Tory, but there's nothing that I can do."

I sighed and looked down at my hand, wondering how I would hold a pen after this. What would it look like now?

As I fantasized about my deformed limb, Loki had dropped it; his hand raising up and clenching into a fist, conducting the gold collar around Bruce's throat. The man let out a sharp gasp and breathed in deeply, sucking in the air but it was useless. The band around his neck moved higher up his throat, constricting his airway and bruising his neck. It wrapped around the skin and drew blood.

Bruce gripped the table, falling down, his knees buckling and his skin paling. He tripped down to the ground, watching as his skin began to change colour, the muscles rippling. But then Loki clicked his fingers and Bruce lost his anger. He was just struggling to stay alive now.

"STOP IT!" I yelled, falling over and tripping over to Loki, shoving his hand down and blocking his eye line of Bruce. "Jesus Christ, stop it…"

I heard Bruce breath in relief, spluttering and coughing as he drew in the air. Knocking back against the wall and heaving with relief, his head swaying this way and that as he watched us.

I moved over to him and yanked at the band but I ended up causing Bruce more pain. I pulled back and tried to swab at the bleeding wounds on his neck.

"… is this all you're good for? Making people hurt?" I asked, looking up at the God and watching the sadistic smile fall away. "Is this really what you can do to ensure people are willing to do your bidding?"

"He was been-."

"Can you blame him? You've taken away his life and his freedom. You demand things from him that he can't do and you chain him to this room. I'm sorry but how is that Kinglike?"

Loki stared at me, glancing from me to the doctor, then he strode from the room. Leaving it with a swish of his cape and abandoning us.

I fell back against the wall and breathed out, feeling my heart retract all the pain and anxiety it was feeling. I hadn't realised that I been holding it all in until he left. I hadn't realised that I was terrified of him until he left.

"I hate him, so much." I whispered.

"I know but until our friends can find a way to get into action, we have to live with him." Bruce muttered, trying to get to his feet but deciding against it.

"No we don't." He looked at me with a pitying look but I just stared at him. "The Avengers can't do anything yet, they need a push."

"You sound like Fury." Bruce muttered, shutting his eyes and sitting there next to me. "Can I gouge your eye out and stick an eye patch on you?"

"The Avengers need help; they need their missing piece."

Bruce sighed, finally realising where I was going with this. His eyes opened and he watched the wall in front of us. His skin paling as I spoke.

"They need the Hulk."

**ARGHHHHH! RAWR! SMASH! I hope you like this chapter. I wasn't sure you would when I was writing it. It feels good though, to write like this. I have done 4 chapters in two days. Feels great. I really like Tory as well; she's like the best of the Avengers, except she keeps getting hurt. Lots of love.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Not sure what to put here so, pleh.**

"I want permission to work with Dr Banner." I announced as Loki took a sip of wine, probably not the best time to demand something from him.

He spat it out across the floor with a loud cough, staring up at me with huge green eyes; his lips twitched with amusement but continued to stay in their thin line. He put down the goblet and looked at me, the wine dripping from the corner of his mouth, before he flicked it away, was a deep red.

"I'm afraid; I cannot allow that arrangement, my dear. Perhaps another missionary task would be better suited as an outlet for you." He picked up the fork and balanced it, perfectly, before he began to carve into the food; his eyes not leaving mine as he picked up a delicate piece of chicken and put it in his mouth.

"It's been two weeks since I got here and since then I haven't asked you for anything, this is my first favour." I said, trying to keep the fork in my hand as he smirked at my actions. The cast let the metal slip from my grasp, my fingers unable to grip and my thumb unable to move. "And I did ask nicely."

"You demanded it like a child demands toys. How is that in any way, nice?" He said, sighing, wiping his mouth with a napkin as he leaned back; watching me.

"From me to you? It was very nice." Loki laughed at that; a nod was given and he smiled at me, not smirked. Smiled; it was even sweet, well, as sweet as Loki could be. It still had that smell of superiority and power.

"What work would you perform with Dr Banner?" He asked, pushing away the plate and clicking his fingers. A girl rushed across, the damp cloth she'd cleaned the floor with was tucked into her apron, grabbed the plate and scuttled away again, her head bowed low.

"Research into-."

"I have enough people, both academic and otherwise performing research for me, to what do I need you?" He interrupted, his eyes sifting back at me from Larson. I glanced at the French man and saw the way he was raising an eyebrow.

"If you would let me finish…" Loki waved his hand for me to continue. "Bruce has a very particular DNA structure, due to his exposure to the GAMMA radiation. He believes that he may hold a secret to combatting cancer, that's an illness of deformed cells that grow on the body-."

"I know of it. So, what? You hope to find the cure for it?"

"The opposite, I hope to find the route of it and then develop a way to make it a liveable disease. Like asthma or hay fever."

Loki looked at me, smirk returned as he leaned a leg over the side of the throne. But his eyes betrayed his cynical stance, he was interested in what I was saying, not only that but he believed me. This either meant that I was a better actress than I thought or he was really gullible. Or the third option, a voice whispered in my head, that he trusts you.

But I pushed that thought away; Loki was a madman that had usurped his throne from a vengeful people, that's why he always kept the sceptre at his side and why he always had Larson near him. He could trust no one. Good men had that luxury and Loki was far from being a good man.

"And you think that you can accomplish this task by working with the freak of nature?"

"Anything's possible if you just try." I snapped, glaring down at my food.

I hated the way that he talked about Bruce; yes, he was a freak of nature but it wasn't as if it was his fault. Whereas Loki might as well go around with a hat that said 'I'M A FREAK'. Oh, no, wait; he did.

But Bruce couldn't control what happened to him, what he did saved people's lives and saved his and now his was trying to turn around all the mistakes he'd made by helping people. Or at least he was. And, yet, Loki still treated him like dirt, despite Banner's intelligence over his and despite the way that he knew that the Hulk was the only thing that could really stop him.

"I admire that." He whispered, shocking us both. My head snapped up and I looked at him with a frown. He tried to back track but everyone in the room had heard what uttered.

He admired me? What was that meant to mean? I thought that I was nothing less than a human that he kept at his side and now he was saying that he admired me. I thought that the only reason I was here for was to scare the Avengers and to play with, not to be admired nor loved. Not that Loki loved me… He was incapable of that.

"I mean to say, that is a quality I wished more people possessed the ability to look defiance in the eye and continue with your duty. I appreciate that in you." He let out a loud sigh, flicking his hand and clearing the room till only Larson remained. "Very well, you may conduct your research with Dr Banner. But I want updated progress on how it is going, mind you. And there is to be a guard in the room with you."

"Fine, but I get to pick the guard." Loki nodded and watched as I stood up, pushing the still full plate of food away from me as I turned to walk away.

"Wait!"

I halted and stood there, still facing the door, my foot in the air ready to take another step to the door but Loki's voice had called me out, stopping me as I moved away from the room, moved away from Loki. I stared at the door begging it to open and for someone more important to rush in; for someone to force me to leave so that I could leave this room. I didn't want to be in here for any longer than I had to and now that I was done; so was my obligation. I should have run through the door and said that I didn't hear him. I should have feigned something like sleep deprivation. But I was really curious, so I turned around and faced him. Larson sticking to the side of the room as he watched.

"You have barely eaten anything." Loki said, looking at the plate of food and back up at me, a strange look on his face.

"I can't… I can't use my hand and I don't really use my other one but it's fine… I'm not hungry."

I turned away and was half way to the door when my bastard stomach betrayed me, rumbling loud enough to wake up everyone in the Helicarrier. I glared down at it as I heard him let out a laugh of amusement.

"It seems that you are. Come back, sit." He said, softly, urging me back to the seat at the corner of the table. I looked at it for a while before moving back across to the seat.

He smiled at me, pulling the plate over to him and taking his fork in his hand; it sat there, perfectly, in his perfectly aligned fingers. He was mocking me. He was doing this deliberately to show me just how much I was in the cusp of his hand; to show how reliant I was on him and how much I owed him. Well, once my hand was healed I owed him a punch.

He held up the fork and put it in front of my mouth, a piece of chicken dangling off of the edge, a smirk gracing his face for the first time in seconds. I imagined him even saying patronisingly 'Open the spaceship door or E.T. will die.' Well, fuck E.T.; he should have been on Orange anyway.

After thirty seconds of chilling silence, in which Larson looked on amused, Loki waited patiently (ha) and I just stared at him with my most riveted expression, the God finally sighed and put the fork down; looking at the food as he spoke, slowly. "I am trying to help you, Victoria, please let me."

"Sorry, I didn't want to aid a man that was patronising me." I spat back, my hard and impassive expression unwavering, even as he drew his head up to glare at me.

"Must you be so stubborn?"

"Must you be so evil?"

Loki let out a shaky breath, his eyes going down again and his hands trying to calm himself. I could see the clocks going in his head; most of them telling him to kill me but the rest were counting from one to a hundred; keeping him from whacking from his presence and into Time's Square.

"I understand that you have some reservations about me-." He began, his voice fighting to keep calm and empowered at the same time.

"Do you?" I asked, sarcastically folding my hand and my pathetic lump together on the table, my head tilting to the side as he spoke.

"But, it is imperative that we pushed past them; you have a long life ahead of you and I have an even longer reign. But the majority of your lifetime will have been spent with me, so can you at least push past all the animosity and let me show you some compassion?"

"This isn't compassion." I whispered, blinking and pulling my hands away from each other as I leaned away from him. "This is… pet affection."

"You humans have an affinity towards your animals that astounds the rest of the galaxy; you treat them as kin better than you treat each other. Should I not do the same with the lower species of my kind?"

Make that two punches.

Loki sensed that that perhaps wasn't the best compliment of all time and quickly began talking again. "I mean to say that I am trying to… apologize for what I did to your hand, that was reckless and I didn't realise it would affect you as permanently as it does. I aim trying to make amends."

I glanced up, trying to read him but his eyes were now shuttered and closed off. If he were a book, he would be Twilight or War and Peace. This is what is infuriating about Loki, I could write him off with basic human emotions and styles that he portrayed with excellence, by the way. He was predictable in the fact that he was sadistic and cruel and…evil. No, beyond evil; there wasn't a word for the lengths that Loki's depravity and fury reached, it was astounded and confusing and crippling, the pain it caused me to watch him do all this was crippling. Because there were these times, like this, when there was a different man in front of me, who smiled with gentleness and a kindness that I had never seen before. He was different to the monster that haunted my dreams; he talked in this soft voice and looked at me with his big green eyes… that made it impossible for me to judge.

But then that man was gone and Larson walked back in the room and I was shoved out and I heard _that laugh_. And I wanted to find a door leading to the walkway of this ship and throw my body of the edge.

Loki picked moved his hand out but this time it went to my hand, the ice cold feeling managed to penetrate the thick cast. He helped guide my hand over to the fork and pick it up, helping me pick up the food and put it into my mouth.

He nodded at me as I swallowed the last of the food and got up from his stoop next to me; Larson shoved himself off of the wall and followed Loki as he left the room. I waited until I was sure that they were gone before running to the nearest bin.

I began shaking as I threw up, trying to get the feeling off of my body, trying to push him from me, trying to remember what it felt like to feel safe as someone touched me. Because for the entire time that Loki held onto me all I could think of was the blood on our hands. I felt like it was seeping from his white skin, from under the nails and hair follicles to pour onto me.

I leant against the cool wall and wiped my mouth, breathing heavily and rubbing my eyes. They had become worn and tired like I'd stayed up watching the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy, the director's cut. They'd seen too much in the past two weeks. Hell, they'd seen too much in the past three months.

I moved up, travelling along the hallways till I found Bruce's room or cage. The door slid open for me and the man looked up from the computer as I walked in; a frown creasing his face as he stood up, putting down an electronic notepad and moving across to me.

"You don't look well…" He mumbled, his hand going to my forehead and wiping at the sweat there. I just shuddered against him and whispered.

"Loki was nice to me."

Bruce let out a sigh like laugh and put me down on the bed next to the mess of clothes and other items. He walked to the fridge at the side and yanked out a cold water bottle; putting it into my hand and helping me unscrew the lid.

"What happened?" He asked, moving away from me and heading back to his work as I glugged down the water like I'd "He helped me to eat and kept looking at me funny." I muttered, sighing heavily and looking at him. The middle aged man let out a splutter of laughter but said nothing; at least he had more restraint than Tony. His back was turned to me as I spoke. "But, on the plus said, I got him to agree to help me work with you."

"You're working with me? On what?" He asked.

"A cure for cancer," At that Bruce span around to face me with an eyebrow raised. "It was the only thing that I could think of that would make sense. It was this or a way to make lots of mini-Hulks."

"Mini-Hulks?" He asked, crossing the distance of the room and checking scans on the screen, flicking to look at them all. "What are we really going to be doing then? I mean, as intelligent as you are, you didn't study medicine in any way shape or form. Tony said you did talking to crazy people-."

"Psychology." I spat back at him, interrupting his tirade of punching holes in my spectacularly covert plan.

"- But you have no immediate knowledge of biology or chemistry or physics-."

"Hey, I sat through a very expensive High School education for a reason, Bruce, granted the reason wasn't this-." I shot back, intervening again.

"- So, you can dissect a frog! Big deal!" Bruce yelled, throwing his hands into the air and stepping towards me.

"And I can tell you what order the wavelengths go in." I said, proudly folding my arms across my chest and smirking.

"Go on, then."

I thought about it for a few seconds, trying to remember just what the cool saying was. "…fuck."

"You see? This plan is littered with mine fields that will blow up in our faces. We can't pull this off." He finished, desperation seeping into his tone as he fell in front of me.

"Honestly, Bruce, I'm more concerned with the more covert part of our plan."

Bruce looked up sharply, his finger moving up to point in my face and his body jumping away from me. He began gesticulating wildly as he spoke out loud about how insane I was.

"It was your idea, Tory, makes it your plan." He stomped away from me; he backed himself into a corner as I got up and moved closer to him.

"Don't do that, Bruce. I need you to do this with me; you're the plan."

Bruce let out a jittering sigh and twisted his head to look at me, his sausage finger pulling upwards and poking me backwards in the shoulder, shoving me until I was away from him.

"I will not be a part of this plan and you want to know why; because it's a shit plan!"

"It's the only one we have." I hissed at him, staring up into his face and shushing him as we cast worried looks around the place. Bruce leaned forward and clicked at a few keyboard buttons, disabling the camera the way Tony had when he first arrived. "So, unless you can think of a better one, we carry on with this plan."

"To do what? Somehow get Loki to take this band off of my neck, release the other guy and get him to agree to drop to the floor without wanting to destroy every part of this place like he'll want to. Then somehow find the Avengers and then assemble a force of mutants and humans and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to take on Loki and close the Tesseract, which by the way is being guarded by the most formidable force in history." He laughed in my face without mirth and then rolled his eyes, saying sarcastically. "Yeah because that'll work."

"It will if we just try. Please, Bruce, we have to try and dislodge Loki or he'll kill everything we know."

Bruce sighed and placed his hands on the table, the fight leaving him and the fear taking over. I watched as he worked out all the variables in his head, all the equations and all the problems that we would face. And coming out with the same conclusion that I had.

"You do realise that Loki will know you orchestrated this and he'll have you executed on live television with the entire world watching. There's no way that you could come out of this alive."

"Then I go down knowing that I saved the world and really, can you think of a better way to die?"

I smiled at him but Bruce just brought his head up slowly and stared at me with shocked and pained eyes; tears breaking the corners of his kind eyes. He was crying for what must have been the first time in years but it wasn't for my death, it was because I was willing to sacrifice everything to give him back his life and he'd never come across anyone, not since the accident, that was willing to do so much as spit in his direction.

"… How are you gonna get Loki to take off the necklace?"

"Pfft, got any sexy lingerie?"

"For me or you?"

"Don't be ridiculous, of course it's for you."

Bruce burst out laughing, the tears left forgotten on the corner of his eye, he doubled over, using the table as support, as he shook with laughter, unable to contain the feeling that had bubbled up inside of him. His head shook as he turned it around to face me.

"Not enough Gin Joints in all the World."

"Well, that's a shame."

We were still laughing as the door slid open and our enigmatic leader walked in, eyeing us with underlying anger and hate. Bruce couldn't stop laughing even as he let out a cough and since neither of us was facing the man we didn't realise that it was Loki; had we, we certainly would never have turned around.

Bruce turned first and tensed, pushing himself back to lean on the table as he faced Loki, his arms folding across his chest. "What do you want?"

"Rude, Banner, after I have just let you assume some semblance of your previous life. Victoria has, no doubt, told you of the advancement of your plans?"

"Yes, she has." Bruce replied, shortly.

"Well, then, I expect that you'll except my conditions." Loki said, his hand clutching his wrist behind his back and his chin jutting out proudly. If Loki were an animal right now, he'd be a peacock flinging out his feathers to attract attention and scare off the other alpha male.

"She didn't mention any conditions…" He said, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

"You cannot expect me to let a former Avenger and man of tremendous power spend unwatched time with the Queen of Midguard." Loki turned to look at me with his green glinting eye. "It's not that I don't trust you, my dear, but… yes it is that I do not trust you. Either of you.

"So, you will be watched by a formidable guard whenever you are here-."

"You said that I could choose the guard. I don't want Larson being in here and causing more aggravation than good." I spat. Loki considered this for a few seconds before nodding, his eyes lingering on Bruce but seeing only the Hulk.

"Then the camera shall be on, always." He looked across both of us but said nothing. "Also, I wish to see updated modules on this program, from both of you."

"You can't expect it to work immediately, can you?" Bruce asked, indignantly. "Neither of us are experts in this field, it will take months to come up with even a crumb of something worthwhile."

"Well, I hope that your D.N.A. structure will advance that. You have a stepping stone to cross whereas others will have a milestone."

"How poetic." Bruce spat, moving around the table and flicking on the camera again. As he moved back to his work, Loki walked across to me, watching him over my head.

He was so close to me that I could feel his breath on the side of my neck and the coldness of his body. His hand moved out from behind his back and took mine with long fingers, holding it tightly. I felt my wrist hiss as he pulled it back, putting half of my body behind his and wrapping and arm around my torso.

"If we have nothing else to discuss," Loki turned to look at me, "I will walk you back to your room."

I didn't have time to agree or disagree because Loki had wheeled us around and led me to the door, leaving a shocked Bruce in our wake. Loki's strides were normally long and quick but, now, they had slowed and lessened in their pace; he took his time to walk me back. His hand unmoving from my torso and he never left a gap between us that was more than a centimetre.

We reached my door and he clicked the pad and the door slid open, letting him enter and deposit me in there. I expected him to leave me immediately, he didn't need to keep the façade up when we were alone, but he stayed; watching me from the corner of the room as he pushed back his tail feathers and sat in a chair.

I frowned at him and opened my mouth to order him to leave but he was right; it was late, and as I opened my mouth all that escaped it was a large yawn. I just sighed and walked into the bathroom, brushing out my hair and cleaning my teeth. The dress fell off of me as I grabbed a set of pyjamas, yanking them on over my head and lump. When I walked back in, Loki had moved the things off of my bed and scattered them on the desk, pulling up the duvet.

"You're not thinking of getting in there with me, are you?" I asked, sarcastically, watching as he blushed and shook his head. Yeah, Loki was the great God blushed at something a human said… this was great.

"No, I am here to make sure that you have a peaceful sleep."

"What makes you think that I need you to make sure that I do have a peaceful sleep?" I snapped, taking the duvet from his hand and putting it back in place at the top corner.

"Because you have nightmares every night," I opened my mouth quickly but he held up his hand to stop me. "Don't try and deny it, I know that you do. I hear you screaming, I am just down the hall; I see the dark shadows underneath your eyes." He whispered, his hand moving out and stroking just underneath my eye. His hand going to hold my head as the other moved to stroke my temple. "But don't worry, you won't have any tonight."

He muttered something under his breath and I felt a dull burning on the side of my head, light lit up his eyes for a second before it vanished; the burning gone, replaced by a drowsy feeling that took me over.

I only had a few seconds to blink up at him before I fell into his arms, my head landing on his shoulder and my hands dropping to my side. I fell asleep on his chest, breathing in a deliriously good smell as I did so.

**Naww, how cute? **

**Anyways, I hope you like it. I did. Tis cool. Lots of love.**


	7. Chapter 7

When I woke up that morning, my head was laid on fully plumped pillows; my body was tucked in at my feet and at the side of my back; there was a small light turned on in the corner of the room but the rest of it was dark black, I had no windows in my room. This was the way that my mum used to tuck me in when I was small, she'd carry me into my room, lay me down and tell me a story about the two princes.

"…_The two princes went everywhere together; they did everything together; they were so inseparable that not even fear could pull them apart. They vanquished beast and battled monsters… and they saved fair maidens from their own stupidity." _She laughed, stroking my hair as I giggled into her hand.

I sat up and looked around the room, but Loki was gone. And for a second I felt the disappointment catch my heart before I pushed it away and swung my legs over the edge of the bed; shaking of the thoughts of Loki, of my mother and of the two princes.

I switched off the little light at the corner of my desk and clicked my fingers, screeching and falling down as the lights came on and burnt my retinas. I hid myself behind my hand and ducked into the bathroom, my hand moving up and rubbing my eyes as the sleep began to work their way back in, my head begging me to go back to sleep but I couldn't listen to it. I walked over to the shower, pulling off my clothes, and throwing myself inside. As I got out, I realised that I washed off Loki's smell, the same smell that had drifted me off to sleep. I frowned as I felt regret at that; it was then I realised that I was going slowly insane.

I wrapped a towel around me and sat down on the side; thinking. Which is a bad idea in anyone's book, I mean; look at Socrates.

But I really couldn't help it; Loki kept pushing himself into my brain and he wouldn't budge. Sometimes it was the fear that he caused me to feel; with the smirk, the coldness, oh, and the blatant evil deeds. He was the worst man I'd ever met but he also had the potential to be the kindest and the most sincere man. But it was short lived and a side I'd only seen flicker here and there and heard about in stories from Thor and my… No. No, that wasn't…

There was a knock at the door, the front door, and I rushed to get it, clicking my thumb on the inside lock and watching the door slide open, revealing the tall man on the other side.

Loki looked down at me, his eyes widening and his mouth opening a fraction of the way to let out a small sigh; I frowned and glanced down, jumping as I realised that I was still in a towel or, rather, ONLY in a towel. I let out a groan and turned away from him, grabbing a dressing gown I'd never used off the rail and throwing it around me. Loki had moved into the room but stayed in the corner until I turned to face him.

He blinked; his green eyes still trained on my chest, and shook his head slightly, clearing his mind. He coughed and began talking, slow and carefully; his voice shaking slightly. "Um… it is… We…" He coughed, again, clearing his throat and starting again. "I want you to wear the green dress in your wardrobe; you need to look your best today."

"Why? What's happening?" I asked pulling my hair out of the trap it was caught in between my robe and my skin. Loki looked up at me with a raised eyebrow but he just shook his head with a laugh and said.

"We're going down to Earth today."

"You do know that we're still on Earth, right?" I asked sarcastically, titling my head once to mock him. He just sighed and rolled his eyes at me, turning around to face the door and leaving me alone, again.

I let out a breath as he left and felt my forehead crease downwards as I watched the door; questions forming in my head as I walked across to the wardrobe, opening the door to find the evergreen dress floating inside. Why were we leaving today? Was he trying to stall my work with Bruce? Was he trying to find the Avengers? Was he announcing something? What was he doing?

I let the dress fall down over my head, the silk falling over my skin like ripples in water. It sat on me well, going over my shoulder to slink down my arm with an extravagant sleeve that was connected to the side of the dress but floated out spaciously. No doubt that it was a beautiful dress with all the elegance of an Asgardian princess. But I just kept wondering where the fuck all these dresses kept coming from.

The woman walked in a few minutes later, accompanied by another woman that was less fragile than the first two, they made me over, adding extravagant details and features to me. Toning down the light freckles on my skin, pushing out the colour of my eyes and twirling a gold detail down my cheek to cover the bruise with a gold and black flower.

They put my hair into a bun and wrinkled down to strands that sat in front of my ears; I couldn't doubt that the woman I saw in the mirror was beautiful, stunning, radiant even. But she wasn't me. She was Queen of the Earth, closed off to the people and cold to the touch. She wasn't me. Because as beautiful as she was, she was a layer of makeup on a layer of skin. This is what Loki saw in me; his false Queen.

For a second I let myself wonder whether Steve would see me as he checked the news tonight and would either see through all the makeup or look at the creation waving next to Loki. I hoped that he wouldn't, I hoped that he would remember me.

I didn't have much more time to focus on the super soldier though, because Larson strode into the room and took me underneath the elbow, picking me up and forcing me from the room. His eyes taking me in with a raised eyebrow as I struggled against him in the hallways. He pushed me in front of him as we made it into the throne room, his hand leaving my arm and him walking away to talk to someone else.

"Victoria," Loki called, beckoning him over to me with a single hand, his head down as he looked at a table of glittering gold objects.

I picked up the hem of the dress and made my way over to him, careful not to trip on the train with my heels; he looked up as I reached him. Then he stopped; his hand falling down on the table and his mouth falling open.

He just stared at me with this lost expression, his eyes soaking in me as he kept looking, unable to get enough of me; a gentle look passing over his face as he got drunk in the sight of me.

He moved his hand out and brought me closer to him, a smile on his pale face as he whispered. "You are beautiful."

I stared up at him, marvelling at the sincerity in his voice.

He stared at me for a few more seconds before turning away, his hand going over the gold jewellery and feeling them each in turn. I felt my heart drop as I saw the blue gems that they all donned.

"I'm sorry about this, my dear, but you have to wear one of these." He said, looking at the necklaces and picking up a locket that was attached to a long chain. "It's for my own peace of mind."

"Please… Loki…" I protested, pulling away from him and putting up my hand but he clung me to him and put the necklace around my neck; I felt it drop onto my skin and sting as it curled around before settling. I watched as the rest of the gold evaporated into wisps in the air.

I stood there, expecting the waves of fog to take over and for me to lose my head, watching Loki with a hate filled expression. But nothing happened. My head was clear and clean. I wiggled my fingers to check that I still had control over my body; they moved. I stepped back and forth, rolling on my heels. Loki laughed, hiding it behind his fingers.

"I… don't understand." I whispered.

Loki let go of me, leading me towards the door out of the room. "You don't honestly think that I'd completely take you over after last time, do you? I appreciate that you have certain properties in your head that are advanced beyond what I thought previously," What's _that _supposed to mean? "So, I am giving you the capability to expand your acting talents."

The look that passed on Loki's face as we moved past Bruce was undeniably covered in subliminal messages of anger and hurt. Or in plain English, he looked at like I'd sat on his birthday cake.

"So, why do I have to wear this thing?" I asked, flicking it up into the air.

"It makes sure that you don't try and run from me because when you do it'll send a current of pain throughout both your body and Doctor Banner's. You may be able to continue running but when you reach a mile Dr Banner will fall from the pain, when you reach two Dr Banner will be crippled from the pain and when you reach three he'll be blinded from the pain. Four; and he'll lose the ability to speak. Five; he dies." Loki had reached the door and turned to face me, his eyes dark and cold, again; reminding me that he wasn't the fluffy bunny that I had imagined in that spin of naivety. "Do you understand?"

"You're speaking English and I understand that." I spat back, shoving his hand off of the handle and pushing open the door. The wind hit me like a bitch, whacking me in the face as he grabbed my arm. Pulling me across to the aircraft that was waiting for us; his grip was hard and sharp; nails digging in as a warning.

He threw me away from him as we entered the craft, letting me be dragged to the side by the two women and my hair fondled until it was perfect again. Loki watched me as I sat there, trying not to look at the God.

I couldn't believe I'd been so foolish to let myself believe that Loki could be anything but cruel and calculated and cold. Not just on the outside but inside; his heart was frozen, the veins that pumped blood to his heart had broken off and it now dripped down his body. The arteries were now unsalvageable, left to hand their like leaves in autumn. The heart itself had shrunk and crippled to a contorted and crumpled muscle before being taken over by the cold. This man had no heart in him and what he had was reserved for him.

The day wore on like a Charlie Chaplin film; we moved quickly and flitted from place to place without taking anything in, without really talking about anything with substance, smiling without real joy or happiness, acting as though we cared. But only I cared as I listened to the stories about how people's lives had been ruined; Loki just sat there playing the perfect role when on the inside he was bored.

We were sat there eating lunch with the former Prime Minister for the United Kingdom, telling me that I couldn't even _attempt _to get back to the Avengers, when there was a loud crash from the next room. Loki head shot up like one of Clint's arrows, his shoulders tensing, hand going to the sceptre and eyes narrowing. But not even the God had the opportunity to get his head around it.

A ragged and thin man, facial hair spread down to his neck, hair long and scraggily and dirt painted; he was out of breath, panting like a mad man, shoulders shaking with his sobs as he gripped the gun in his hand. His dark eyes scanned around the room, frustrated but then he found his target at the top of the table. His baggy and torn clothes trailed behind him as he flew to get closer to us. His knuckles whitened and his eyes widened with glee.

Loki muttered something under his breath and looked around sharply but he didn't have time; he should have ducked or teleported out of the way or something but instead he contradicted himself again.

His hand flew out and slammed into my shoulder, sending me sprawling into the ground, my hand reaching out for his as I fell. I felt his cold palm scrape mine and his nails leave a set of scratches on my, still, raw skin.

The ground whacked me like a bitch, winding me so that I spluttered up my breath with a spit and knocking against my head so that my thoughts were fuzzed up and my eye sight lost momentarily. I felt my heart stop as I blinked my eyes open; the feet were stomping around the place, screaming voices, gun shots…

Gun shots…

Gun-! "LOKI!"

I span around, trying to see the God but he was hidden by the chairs in front of me. I tried to stand up but my head acted against me, forcing me back into the ground as I flailed around the place, trying to push the chairs out of the way. But they only moved an inch and even then the God was lost behind them.

I let out another scream and kicked out at the chairs, pushing against the hands that tried to hold me down, scratching at the skin and pushing at the shoulders.

No, he was not… He couldn't be.

Then a set of ice cold hands landed on my bare shoulder, pulling me up into a sitting position, hauling me up and into a cold hug; strong arms holding onto me and a leather jacket wrapping around me.

I pulled back and looked into his face, seeing the pale skin and green eyes of Loki; I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back to me; forgetting everything that I thought about Loki, forgetting that he was evil and cruel and bitter, just remembering that I thought that he had been shot.

He held me, lifting me up from the ground as I cried, carrying me from the room and to the outside air, his head buried into my hair as we walked. For once I didn't feel sick as he held me, as he rocked me slowly as we ran.

But then we stopped running and a shadow engulfed us, Loki put me down locking me into a chair on the craft and moving away from me to sit next to me; his hand on mine, the other holding onto the corner of my jaw and clinging to me. I fell into him and let the shock wear off but the sleep only replaced me. The last thing I saw was the blue gem glowing brightly before I slipped forward.

Loki was sat next to me as I woke up, leaning back on a seat and staring out of the window with a heavy lidded gaze worry on his face and his fingers running over his lips to calm himself. I was laid down on a large and exceedingly comfortable bed that definitely didn't belong to me. My hand moved out and stroked the silk duvet cover; yeah, definitely not my room.

Loki jumped as he noticed that I was awake, leaping forward and looming over the bed to stroke my hair, his eyes full of relief as he looked at me gently.

"You scared me, Victoria." He whispered, putting his knees on the bed so that he was closer to me. I stared up at him and realised what had happened.

"Goes for both of us… how are you still here?" I whispered, pulling his hands off of me so that I could look up into his face.

"I am God of Mischief and Magic, I can perform many talents and tricks that are beyond lesser beings. I was able to trick the man into believing that I was in front of him, whilst in reality I was behind him. I was safe, I assure you."

I suppose he thought that that would calm me. But it didn't because I'm weird and wonderful and a woman; and we like to over think things.

"Beyond lesser beings? That's great. That's fantastic." I spat, pushing myself away from him and jumping out of the bed. Stumbling out, I realised that I was just in my underwear; the dress had been removed and put on a chair but I didn't much feel like wearing it. I grabbed a shirt from the side and threw it on over my head, yanking it down so that I was covered to the middle of my thigh.

Loki turned to look at me, sitting forward and putting his hands on his knees as he watched me fumble around. "You look even better in my attire."

"Fuck off, Loki. This isn't funny."

"I wasn't making a joke; I was making a truthful observation." He spat back. "Will you, please, stop pacing around the place and talk to me?"

"You won't like what comes out of my mouth."

"When do I ever?"

I grabbed the closest pillow and hurled it at him, hitting him in the face and letting him pull it down, raising an eyebrow at me. I just stood in front of him, arms folded across my chest.

"It's not funny, Loki. You treat your life as a joke, you treat me as a doll, and you treat everyone else around here like dirt and I know it's because you're so superior to the rest of us but I don't care anymore. Take this seriously; you're not in Asgard anymore, you don't have your full potential, you don't have your whole magic, you don't have the capability to heal, you're not immortal. Do you understand?"

"You're speaking English and I understand that." He repeated in a low voice, looking at me with veiled contempt. What am I saying; it wasn't veiled. "I do not, however, understand your anger. You have made it perfectly clear in the past that you hate me and everything that I stand for; you side with the angels, you're a good person. So, why now?"

I stared at him, my mouth falling open as I attempted to form a coherent sentence but all I could do was gasp out. "I- I don't-."

"Yes, you do." He said, standing up and moving closer to me. "I could see it in your head," He raised a bony hand to his temple and rubbed his pale skin. "You were terrified that I was dead because you want me to stay with you. Because you like the way I make you feel and, although you'd never admit it, you're beginning to feel something-."

"STOP IT!" I yelled, my hands flying up and landing in my hair, pushing it back as I breathed heavily. Looking away from Loki and over the top of his head; trying to make sense of all these thoughts running through my head, trying to push Loki out. "Stop it…"

He stepped back, looking crestfallen and ashamed but I didn't care all I could do was feel the anger that was bubbling up inside of me.

He had no right, _no right_, to do that. My head was confused enough without him coming along and adding his voice or inferring my thoughts to mean something else. He was pushing through ill-conceived thoughts and half formed thoughts that didn't need to be spoken. They… he couldn't be right. He wasn't. No, he was wrong… The only thing that I felt for Loki was hate and bitterness. But then there was that other Loki, the one that smiled as if he really was happy. I didn't want this.

"I have to go… It's been a long day." I whispered, going to the door and clicking the lock but I couldn't leave because Loki grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back into the room, twirling me around so that he was blocking the exit with his back; his hands on my arms.

"No, please, I'm sorry."

I stared at him for a few seconds, the sincerity in his voice scaring me. The weak look in his eyes was shocking; he was begging me to stay silently because he couldn't tell me that he needed me. That's when it hit me; he said 'please' and 'I'm sorry'. In the same sentence.

"Loki, you scared me. I thought that you were dead; you terrified me…"

"I'd have thought that if I did die, you wouldn't care." He whispered.

You have to do it. I thought, you have to make him believe, this is the only thing that you can do for the Avengers. You have to do it for Bruce; and Nat; and Pepper; and Clint; and Steve; and Tony. You have to make him believe that you love him. You have to get close to him.

"Of course, I'd care Loki… You were right. I do care; I've started to care for a while now."

Then his face lit up and I felt awful. I could barely contain the sick that bubbled up in my stomach as I watched his large smile painted on his face. Then he put his cold hands on my face and drew me closer to him.

His lips were on mine before I could blink. Cold and hard as ice but as soft as feathers, they pushed against me with a harsh force but they were gentle in motion and slow in movement. I knew that I should have done something more than stand there but I couldn't think of what to do. His touch had frozen me in place, locking all the muscles in my body like I was iron. But then he moved his tongue over my lower lip and my knees buckled, I fell into him and let him wrap his arm around the top of my thighs, knocking me into his chest.

I let him kiss me tightly before I pulled away, breathlessly. Staring up into his dark eyes with shock and a kind of lust, I guess. But then it evaporated as he yawned loudly, his arm leaving my waist to go to his mouth and cover up his tiredness.

"I apologize, Victoria, you're right; it has been a long day and this night." He mumbled, pulling away slightly and moving us towards the bed. He fell down and pulled off the jacket, giving it to me so that I could drop it onto the side. I sat next to his head as he laid down, peacefully closing his eyes. "Tell me a story…"

I couldn't help but laugh at his childish voice, moving the black curl away from his eyes and saying, "I think you know them all."

Because all the stories that my mother ever told me were about Loki and Thor; I had realised that this morning as I watched him looking over the people reminiscently, begging for adventure.

"Tell me them anyway."

**This chapter was difficult because I had to bring across the idea of Loki and Victoria beginning to fall for each other but them both being confused and hating the idea of it. I had to keep bringing in Loki's viciousness as well; it was like threading a needle. **

**By the way, I can't remember who asked but I'm just saying that yes; I do think Tom Hiddleston is amazing.**


	8. Chapter 8

**THIS IS STEVE TALKING. HAS ANYONE ELSE NOTICED THAT I HAVE A DIFFICULTY WITH INTRODUCTIONS? PFFT. ANYWAYS, ONWARDS NOBLE STEAD**

Tony let out a loud yell and launched himself from the bed; Thor was barely able to grab him as the God watched in shock. In fact, everyone in the room watched in shock as they saw what was happening on the screen.

The man was heading straight for the top of the table; the former S.H.I.E.L.D agent gripped the gun in his hand as he ran for Loki, his eyes sparkling with insanity and hate. His muscles had shrunk from lack of food so that his skin was sunken and shallow, his cheek bones and jaw were heightened and raised but hidden beneath blood and dirt. Ragged and torn clothes hung around them like they were wearing their dad's clothes as a child. But, regardless of his hunger and exhaustion and pain, he kept on fighting to move forward. For a single moment I was proud of him; exceptionally proud of the man that was capable of doing something that even the Avengers weren't. But then I remembered that Victoria Stark was sat next to Loki.

She threw her head around to stare at Loki, panic and fear lighting up her face, she shook with fear as she watched Loki frozen from his own fear. Then his hand flew out, whacking into her so that she fell down, chair falling on top, her hand reaching out for Loki's.

The former agent braced himself as he got ready to fire his gun, his shoulders contracting as his arms rose; he pulled the trigger and smiled as it flew at his target. But then he roared in agony because the bullet had landed in a wall as Loki's form vanished and appeared behind him; the sceptre flying out and landed in the man's chest, just like Phil.

"Tory…" Tony mumbled, struggling against Thor as he whimpered; trying to get closer to the screen to see what was happening. "…Tory, please be safe. Please."

There was chaos in England as in America Tony Stark began to break again; the people on the screen began running towards the exit, screaming as they went. More gun shots were fired by Loki's guards as they ensured Loki's safety, the God ran across the room, dropping the sceptre, heading for Victoria like his life depended on it.

The camera span to her as they rushed to get a special moment between the couple. Tory was fighting against the people around her, screaming for Loki as tears were rushed down her face and then Loki reached her. Pushing people out of the way to get to her; his hands resting on her face and pushing back the tears and holding onto her; pulling her up so that she was leaning on him, hiccupping as she pulled herself to him.

And that's when I felt the bitch hit me in the stomach; she was voluntarily touching him, clinging to him like she would to me when she had that nightmare. Her shoulders shaking on his chest as she held herself to him like he was her anchor to the world. She was depending on him… she was falling for him.

Falling for the monster that was destroying her world and trying to kill her friends and killing her people. She was falling in love with a nightmare that was trying to break her like a twig and then bend her around his finger. This was the brute that was trying to decimate an entire race… it wasn't me.

Let's be honest, that's what I was pissed off at. That she was falling for someone and I wasn't that man.

"Steve! Help me!" I jumped and looked up at Thor as he fought to keep Tony down; remarkably no matter how hard Thor pushed, without hurting him, he wasn't able to keep the desperate man down.

I jumped up and pushed him down, pulling Tony's hands away as he tried to hit me, Thor let out a yelp as Tony bit down on his hand. Pepper had run into the room and forced Tony's head onto her lap, calming him as he burst into tears.

"He was touching her…" He said, bitterly, turning his head into Pepper's lap as he cried, clinging to her hands.

I looked down at the man and turned to Thor, grabbing his shirt and pulling him from the room, giving them some privacy.

He pushed himself away from me but stayed close as we walked through the house and onto the roof; Clint moving out of his nest to join us on the patio balcony; his face dark with anger as he stood next to me.

"You see it?" I asked, knowing his response.

"Watched it on their screen." He muttered, pointing at the house in front of us. "Fucking bastard; I knew him, the guy, he had great aim and even better determination and Loki speared him like a piece of chicken." The hate in his voice was unimaginable. It was the worst kind of growl I'd ever heard and this was from Clint; the man was an amazing assassin and killer but he was gentle most of the time, always sarcastic, always quick but gentle. "Look, Thor, I mean no disrespect to you, to your father nor to your people but when I get the opportunity I am going to put an arrow through Loki's eye and kill him. I'm sorry if you hate me for that but-."

"Clint Barton, you are wrong. I do not hate you for your anger or your brutality; but I do hate you for letting you think you're going to be the one to kill Loki. He is my responsibility and my problem; it's my duty to kill Loki as penance for letting him plunder your world so." Thor said, leaning against the wall and glaring down at the ground with disgust as he spat out the words.

"You're all wrong," a new voice said, we all glanced around and saw Natasha stood there, arms folded against her chest and her chin jutting out. "I am the only one that can sneak up on Loki that makes him mine. I won't have the rest of you getting hurt by that bastard when I know that I can kill him simply. He will die because of my bullets or my knife. I won't have either of you feeling the guilt that you're bound to feel when you kill him; don't wear that face Clint, you throw up after every kill and you see their faces when you sleep, even though you know that you're killing bad men. And Thor, he's your brother, you spent centuries with Loki and I don't think you have the stomach to kill him, even after all of this. But I have red on my ledger and I don't care if I add a little blue blood to it." Then she looked down at the ground and whispered. "Besides, I owe Bruce."

"That wasn't your fault, Nat." Clint began but Natasha moved her eyes up to glare up at him with malice.

She moved over to stand near us, the wind making her hair fly up and whacking her around the face, her skin pale in the dark moon light. Her blue eyes glinting as she began to fill up with tears.

"You guys do realise, though, that the second we kill Loki, Tory's dead? That's why Loki took her, so that we don't get to him."

We were all silent as we thought about that. Were we really ready to kill Loki if it meant giving up Tory? The girl that had helped all of us without an incentive. The innocent girl at the edge of a war that was pulled in by us bastards and then left to die… Was I ready to do that? To give up on a girl that I claimed to have feelings for? The only answer to that was no.

No, I wouldn't let that happen and if Loki had any kind of prayer of getting out of this alive; neither would he.

"Then we have to get to her, before we get to him." I said, gaining their attention and making them realise that I was never going to let them kill her, nor them.

"How are we gonna do that?" Clint asked, desperately. "We don't even know where they are."

I turned my head and smiled at him, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, we do. Don't we, Natasha?"

Natasha stared at me for a few seconds before she blanched and looked away, swallowing, she stared at the house below ours, etching every detail of the roof into her mind.

"We don't know that, Steve…"

"Yes, we do. You said so yourself, that palace that they were in looked familiar, you're right. It did; it was the Helicarrier."

"The flying fortress?" Thor echoed in his medieval tenor. "How are we meant to get in there?"

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you but… I can fly." Tony's voice said, appearing from inside the doorway, we all span to face him. Staring at the sick man as he limped across to us, his hand on his heart as he coughed up phlegm.

"Dude, that's gross." Clint mumbled, pulling away from him.

"I blame, Natasha, she was the one that had it first." Tony mumbled as he reached Thor, checking his hand and wincing. "You'll get it next."

"I thought your illness was because of your heart machine magic thing…" Clint as he rolled his eyes at him, moving across to whack my away so he could stand with us.

"No, according to Pepper it was just me being a sissy and this thing not liking the flu." He said, tapping it once with his index finger. "So, if I had died it would have been your fault." He gloated in Nat's face, eyebrows raised as she blinked once.

"My conscience would be fine."

"Yeah but you'd miss me during the nights."

Hawkeye sighed and jumped between them both, intervening before Natasha hit him. Wiggling a finger in her face before turning around to look at Tony with a frown. "You don't have a suit though; how are you going to fly?"

"I have a few," He sniffed. "At my penthouse."

We were all, except for Thor, staring at him in shock as he looked up at the stars, smiling at them as if there was nothing wrong with the world. This man was insane; literally insane, a lot worse than Loki.

"You cannot be serious." Natasha said, breaking the silence finally with her low tone. "We're in Texas; your penthouse is in California."

"Which means that we need to get their quickly and with our biggest muscles." Tony replied, flippantly.

"You're asking us, to risk our lives to get your suit? Stark are you out of your mind!" Clint yelled, reaching to grab him but Stark jumped out of the way and glared up at hi, growling.

"No. Not for me; for Tory. Who, by the way, you owe."

Clint drew back and his face clouded with guilt and Tony looked away from him, everyone else lapsing into silence as we watched Clint try to restrain his anger as he looked at Tony with contempt.

"I… I didn't mean it like… we all owe her." Tony muttered, desperately trying to backtrack what he had said. "…but Clint… you know that we need to get up to the Helicarrier to get to Loki, to save the whole World."

"I'll go." I whispered, speaking for the first time since Tony had got there. He didn't like the sound of my voice anymore; he didn't like to hear me talking.

I saw him nod but say nothing, his chest bouncing out as he released a breath and his eyes looking away from me but his shoulders tensed and the knuckles on his pale hands whitened.

Thor was the next to agree.

The next morning we set out, piling into the Land Cruiser whilst Pepper and Jane watched on, their eyes dry as they watched us. Clint and Fury got into a second car next to us, but they weren't going with us.

No, their plan involved the S.H.I.E.L.D. database about the others. The mutants, the skilled, the talented, the odd; but most of all the people that would help us take back the Tesseract and kill Loki.

The only thing that occupied my mind, 24-7, the only thing that kept my head hurting and awake and… that was the only thing that I could think about; killing Loki. Watching the manic desperation to be loved vanish from his eyes. That was the only thing that I wanted to do now.

We had reached the 13th hour in our 23 hour car journey, the night was rolling past us as Tony gripped the wheel, his eye lid drooping but every so often they'd snap open as Thor's leg would kick his chair. He let out a snore and curled up more on my shoulder, mumbling something about Loki's hair.

I leaned forward and gripped the shoulder of Tony's seat, whispering. "Do you want me to take over?"

"No, I don't want to sit next to the God of drool, thanks."

I fell back against the chair's front and felt Thor move away, going to the window and slamming his cheek on it; Tony's eyes caught mine in the reflection of the mirror and looked at me, icily.

"I can't help it, you know." He muttered; his hand circling the wheel around so that we turned a sharp corner. The brown eyes watching the road, again. "The… anger."

"You don't have to explain-." But he cut me off, quickly, his tone sharp like a snake.

"Yes, I do. I have to hate you because I don't blame you, I blame me, I blame her, and I blame Loki. But you, let her go, you let her do something that she wanted whereas I wanted her caged up so that she wouldn't be able to hurt herself. But you let her go. And I know that given that moment, I would have done the same but… I just need to take this anger out… somewhere."

"I know, Tony. I know." I mumbled, looking away and blinking against the harsh stinging in my eyes.

We parked the car a few miles out from Tony's penthouse and began our walk to it; panic and fear and childish complaints pushed aside as adrenaline and fight began to pump in our veins.

We saw the penthouse get closer and closer, the way that the Chatari swarmed around the doors before they shrieked from the pain of Thor's lightening.

**I hope this is good, I know that I've been gone for ages, there's just loads going on down here, I'm sorry and I'd like to say thank you to **Opera Hiddles and Tea **who reminded me and spurred me on, have an internet hug.**


	9. Chapter 9

I groaned as I tried to move, my back almost biting me with pain as I attempted to twist it, my legs refused to move, too; they were weighted down by a soft pressure that was dulled by a layer of a silky duvet. My hand was encased in cold, I felt it shiver as I tried to move it under the covers, but then I realised that it wasn't cold holding it, it was a hand; long and slim fingers gripping my skin and holding it there.

I felt my heart stop as I realised where I was; Loki's bedroom, trapped between his cold body and wall. His head lay on my thighs as my back leant on the wall, my hand on his back and in his; stuck there whilst he slept like a blissful angel. The sick spilled in my stomach as I saw the smile and I felt his strong arms try to wrap around me more; I jumped, twisting, turning and spinning away from him as I fell off of the side of the bed and wrenched my hand from his; landing on my arse as I slipped from the comfortable mattress.

Loki yelped and shot up like a bullet, his eyes scanning the room with anger and blood lust, then it vanished as he saw me on the ground; a patronising look taking over his face as he smiled down at his favoured pet.

As he slid forward, I shifted back, his hand outstretched ready to touch me but I already felt sick enough and I didn't need his sympathy and gentle eyes to trig me guilt.

I jumped up and moved back, shaking and breathing deeply; Loki frowned at me but moved back as I rose up, sliding to the door and over to the control panel but Loki had stepped forward and grabbed at me.

"What are you doing? We could spend the whole-."

"No." I snapped, my voice acting out before I could stop it. A dark cloud passed over his eyes like a snake's shock reaction but retracted slowly. "You have a World to run; you can't spend your time mothering me."

He looked into my eyes for a while and I tried hard to keep his gaze, if I even tried to look away he'd realise that I was lying and if he realised that I was lying; he'd kill me.

He nodded and let me run from the room, heading along a corridor and down the next maze till I was completely lost, cowering in a dark corner till I was knelt down, my knees against my chest and trying to breath deep.

"Forgive me, Steve. Please…" I whispered, into the top of my legs. My forehead brushing against them as I shook it, trying to rid myself of images of Steve watching me and Loki…

Why me? He could have taken any woman on this pitiful planet and he chose me. He could have had the most beautiful woman in the world but he chose me. And I know, he wanted to torment the Avengers and show them that he had something over them, he wanted to make Tony scared and pitiful and pathetic but why did he have to make it personal with me? He could have locked me up and kept me like a dog but he gave me whatever I wanted, he let me eat, he let me shower, he let me live. So why did he drag me into this like he cared?

He couldn't care. He cared about no one but himself.

"Tory?" I looked up as I heard the voice intruding the silence, I scanned the darkness and saw them; the Gamma radiation scientist looked down at me and sighed, his eyes blinking for a long moment before he put the coffee to the side. He put out a foot to walk forward but I soared up and ran into his arms, my head knocking into his in my haste. His weak arms wrapped around me and kept me close, the way that he rubbed the small of my back in a circle reminded me of how Tony would calm me down; tiny circles traced on my arms and back till I was tired.

"What happened?"

"…he kissed me." I mumbled into the fabric of the worn black shirt, his collar ruffling as he moved to look at me. "And I liked it."

I felt Bruce breath and then exhale, saying nothing and thinking nothing. The best thing about the man was that he was quiet when you needed him to be.

"What am I doing Bruce?" I asked, pulling away so that I could look at him, his eyes frowning down at me calmly. "I'm supposed to be focused on dislodging him and instead I'm making out with him like some doe eyed teenager."

Bruce sighed and put his hand on my arm, shaking me lightly. "You've got to stop being so hard on yourself. Last night, you were weak and in shock; Loki knew that that's how he managed to worm his mouth onto yours. Don't worry about it; it wasn't an actual kiss because you weren't actually fully there. You were dazed and confused, that's how he managed to kiss you."

I let Bruce talk as I watched him; let him think that I thought, let him think that you weren't fully there, in the end it won't matter.

He began to lead me back to the lab, telling me that he'd been down there for a walk as we entered the range of the cameras; his arm stuck on my shoulder and his side close to mine as we walked.

"I've began work on the research; what do you want to do today?"

"Take a sample of your blood and analyse it, compare it to a normal human's and see if there's difference when you attack them with cancer cells." I muttered, moving over to the seat and flinging myself down onto it.

He worked soundlessly all day as I sat there, occasionally looking through his microscope and staring at the red blob as he giggled excitedly, then Larson walked into the room, a smug and superior smirk on his bruised face.

"You two have to come with me." He ordered, his hand moving out and seizing my wrist dragging me up onto my feet and throwing me into the hallway. Bruce tensed but Larson held his gun, still in the holster, tightly. Jerking his hand forward and pressed a button on a gold device when Bruce failed to move, the middle aged man choked slightly but stumbled forward, letting the cruel man take his elbow and force him forward.

We were pushed into the throne room and shoved onto our knees, for the first time since the broadcast, Larson's hand going to my throat when I tried to get up and slamming me back down. Then he left me and the door opened and Loki walked in, his head low and something in his hand.

He looked up as he reached me and frowned, his head casting around and his eyes slanting as he saw the men watching. He growled at them and glared till they turned away, their heads down but the smirks still in place. His hands clenched but he ignored it and swung his green cape off of his back and wound it around my shoulders, clasping at it the neck with his hands as he looked down at me.

"I did not think that I would have to warn you about walking half naked in front of cruel men." He muttered, his eyes flicking to Bruce and then back to me.

Sighing, he stood tall and proud as he moved away and over to the front of a table, his face suddenly changing from a calm expression to a harsher one; he sat down on the head of the table and opened his hands, flicking at the table so that we could all see what he was…

No. No, no, no, no… God, no.

It was Tony's California penthouse, on fire, with the caption below it reading 'The terrorist group, known as the Avengers, have broken in to Stark Penthouse and been killed by Chatari forces.'

"No." I heard from next to me, Bruce's voice hard and cold and strong. He looked from me to Loki and shifted closer to me, glaring as the God growled, his hands grabbing my shoulders and forcing me to look at him.

"Tory, it's not true. Listen to me; it's just propaganda, its lies." His warm hand moving to my jaw and keeping my gaze on him, my breathing coming out quick and deep as I thought about them. Tony being burnt as he attempted to salvage his armour; Thor being held down as the Chatari stabbed him over and over; Natasha running and being shot in the legs; Clint being blinded; Steve frozen in ice as he watched them all die… "Tory! Stop it! They're fine! Stop it, breath slowly. They're fine."

"Oh, I wish that that were true, Monster, but they're not entirely fine." Loki's voice said; ringing out, around the room and around our heads. I felt the tears stinging my eyes again and I blinked furiously, pushing them back as his words filled images in my head again. "Whilst my brother and your guardian escaped with an 'Iron Man' suit, they left their shield behind."

He shot his hand out, gracefully, letting the contents fly out of his hand and into my face. I yelped and grabbed at it, pulling it down so that I could look at it…

Steve's mask was lying limp in my hands, corners signed and burnt and the fabric torn and ripped. It lay flat and cold on my palms, the blue faded and blurred as my eyes began to fill with tears. I felt them drop from the corners to the thick material.

Bruce grabbed at it and took it from me, clutching it as his voice let out a guttural roar and he jumped to his feet, the muscles rippling beneath his skin and tearing the shirt as they expanded at an alarming rate. But then he let out a scream and fell back, the skin still expanding and growing and the limbs still kicking out but he was between changes so he couldn't breathe or think straight; Loki was killing him.

"Change back!" I yelled, standing up and running to the Hulk, tripping to my knees next to him and shaking him. "Change back! Please, you'll die if you don't!" Still the Hulk remained, fighting against the magic collar on his neck, spitting and hissing as he attempted to breath. "Please, Hulk, I need him. Give him back."

His green eyes caught mine and I saw the sympathy there and the agony and the pain and he gave up, letting go of his hate to his humanity and letting Bruce slide back into place. He lay on his back, breathing in the air and rubbing his neck, looking at me with shame but I didn't care. I let my head rest on his shoulder and breathed with him, feeling safe in his arms as Loki and his armed men bore down on us.

"Let her be." Bruce mumbled, his hand finding mine and clutching it tightly. "She's physically shattered-."

"She has to answer my questions-."

"She doesn't have any answers, neither of us do. How were we supposed to know what they were planning locked up here like dogs?" Bruce spat at the God, unfazed by his sharp tone.

There was a silence in the room and then someone moved forward, taking me and Bruce out of the room and leaving us in his. Alone and scared, we huddled together, silently and shattered as the news washed over us. Our friend had died in a valiant attempt to help aid the World, the Avengers were one down.

"They need you more than ever," I whispered into Bruce's shoulder as he stopped my hiccups. "They need him."

"I know; we need to do it soon, then." He agreed his voice unwavering and sturdy as he voiced his complicity for the first time. I nodded and looked up at him, watching the lines on his face and wondering whether I'd see them after his escape. No, was the answer, if Hulk escaped, I would die.

"Tomorrow."

"How do you-?" He asked, gesturing to the collar and frowning but I interrupted him again.

"Let me worry about that, just give me a hug." I finished pathetically, wrapping my weak arms around his neck and holding onto him. Then something cut into my arm and picked at the skin, slicing it cleanly. I let out a gasp and pulled away to look at the wound, watching the blood move down to my wrist. The lump moved across and my fingertips brushed at the blood.

Bruce frowned with me and let me move forward to look at the collar, his frown increasing as I let out a laugh and smile, practically jumping with joy.

"Hey, Tory, you wanna share the good news with the owner?" He chirped as I pulled back and held his face happily.

"You, Mr Hulk, are a remarkable man." I smiled, looking into his eyes with praise and watching the beast respond with a laugh and a shrug.

"Uh, would you two like to have the room or can I please know what you're both so happy about?" Bruce snapped impatiently.

"The Hulk has chipped the collar so that in your next transformation, it'll break, easily."

The smile on Bruce's face was the most amazing smile I'd ever seen on his face, it de-aged him by at least ten years, taking away the wrinkles and bags under his eyes as he thought about his freedom.

"Tell me that you're telling the truth." He said, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.

"Of course I am." I swore.

Bruce was going to be free, he was getting out of here, and he was going to be safe. That was the best piece of news I'd received since I'd been dumped here; I was so happy that I forgot about Steve. But could you blame me, really? My friend and my rock was finally getting out of hell and was going to go to help save the world; as much as I needed him to save me from the darkness of Loki with his protective hugs I knew that I could repay his kindness now. Besides, I was going to see Steve soon; I wouldn't be lonely for long.

Can't tell whether the madness has gotten to Tory or to me but her thoughts are pretty spaced out just take that as exhaustion and relief and embracing her death. I feel relieved to write this story, I've been so tired recently and this is just a weight, although I do have a French and Singing Exam that I need to focus on so I doubt that I'll write a lot the next couple of weeks but I will try to get the next chapter up soon. I hope that you like it and that you keep reading. Thank you so much for the love I really appreciate it.

P.S. if anyone can draw or is a would be artist I'd love to talk to you or if anyone has any prompts or ideas for another story I'd love to hear those too.


	10. Chapter 10

"You're a selfish bastard, you know that." Tony whispered as Steve slept. "To think that you're the only one that is hurting because she's gone; to think that you're the only person that cares about her. She's my little girl, Steve, I was there when she was born, it was the most disgusting thing ever but I went through it for her; and when she was born, her little blue eyes looked up at me and they shone. Like they do now, only with more innocence but now… they'll never do that again." He trailed off as he thought about her on the Helicarrier, screaming and crying in agony. Begging for help…

Tony sat there and stared at Steve; his chest moving slowly underneath the blanket, the way that his eye lids would move as he slept, his mouth mumbling every so often as the hours passed. But still, he refused to wake. Tony and Pepper had tried everything they could find to wake him but his response remained the same; nothing. He stayed statue still as he fought against the demons in his head.

He shuddered and began again. "So, I understand why you love her… I really do but I'm just saying that you're not the only one…. And she's not the only one that loves you, Steve. I know that you think that you're alone in this time and that you have no one to rely on… I used to feel like that, I really did, and then I met Pepper and Natasha and Coulson and Fury and you and Thor and Bruce and Clint." He felt the tears building up in his lashes now and he blinked them down onto his cheeks. "So, if you for one _fucking _second think on giving up on all of us; I will kill you. So, you wake up; do you hear me? You wake up and you do it now…"

Was this how Coulson used to spend his months? Watching this dick sleeping as he thawed? Was this really what he was turning into? An innocent on the side line, unable to help his friends?

They'd made their way into the penthouse safely and had even managed to get the mark 2 and mark 6 but Steve had been valiant as they left and decided to run head first into a formation of Chatari; Thor had only just been able to fly them out of there before Steve had gotten himself killed. Now, he was teetering on the edge of death.

Tony had known why he did it; as he and Thor ran into the basement and got the suits; Steve kept watch on the stairs or, as Pepper had christened it, "The Tori Stark Picture Show". Because Tori hated the pictures of her, they had put up loads of pictures of her going down into the basement to really piss her off. She'd punch him but it was worth it to see her face age every day… most days. When they came back upstairs Steve was stood there, shaking with anger and pain, tears in his eyes and his fists clenched. He gripped the shield and ran from them; Tony's fingers only _just_ scraped the back of Steve's shirt before he slipped away.

Tears flowed freely now, they stemmed from every corner of his eyes to the messy beard on his jawline. "Wake up, Steve, wake up. _Please. _I need you to wake up… I cannot save her… without you."

He let out a yell as Steve rested on his back, eyes still closed and chest heaving with every breath. He threw his arms out and then kicked the chair, as he whacked the papers and things onto the floor. Pepper ran through and grabbed him, pulling his arms down and gripping him as he cried relentlessly. His head moulding into the crook on her shoulder and hiccupping as she held onto him.

"It's okay, Tony." She whispered.

"I've failed her; I've failed Carmen. I told her that I would keep her daughter safe… I told her that she would be okay…" He sobbed. "I lied to her… I lied to her." His nails began to dig in and grip the material on Pepper's back and he scraped along her back as he sobbed. "S-she knew… that this d-ay was c-coming… the day tha-t I would lose her d-daughter." His voice rose and fell as he failed to keep control over it, his knees crawling up into his chest as she shifted away. "S-she said t-that… Tory was b-better off with a-woman that c-couldn't stop herself from hurting her rather than with a monster that took pleasure with it…"

Pepper began to interrupt him. "She had a tumour pressing on her brain; she didn't know what she was saying… she couldn't have known about Loki, Tony."

"That's because she wasn't talking about Loki…" He said, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "… she was talking about me; after I took Tory in I practically neglected her and left her to raise herself; I was so caught up in myself and everything other than her that I abandoned her in that house; and then I began drinking and sleeping around; how is that healthy in front of a child that has just lost her mother?" Pepper had begun to lean away, a torn look on her face. "Then was I was captured and she spent all of that time _fighting _for me and I just… left her, again. I left her to become Iron Man. I had said to myself that she didn't need me and I sent her away when I began to die! I sent her away! She must have thought that I hated her and that I wanted anything less than to-."

"No, Tony, no." Pepper whispered, her hands cupping his face as she pulled him up to look at her. "Don't do this to yourself. Don't ever do this to yourself."

Pepper held her closer to him, pulling him in as he began to cry again, rocking him like a child; keeping him close to her heart.

Across the house, Natasha was teaching Jane how to use a gun, not as an insistence from Thor she just thought it would be prudent; she'd been meaning to teach Tory but those plans no longer mattered.

"Hold your strength in your shoulders, this is a high calibre gun; it'll send you flying backwards." She said, putting her hands behind her back as Jane squared herself up to the target, her eyes squinting and her feet fidgeting.

"Ready, fire."

The blast from the gun was silenced considerably but still echoed in the petit woman's ears as she landed on the ground. Her arms falling up with the gun still locked tightly in her palms and the look of a rabbit in the headlights on her face.

Thor shook his head as he entered the room and saw his love on the floor but it was a usual accordance now a days; Maria and Natasha had taken it upon themselves to teach Jane and Pepper defence, should they need it. They were really just exercising their guilt; feeling that the mess in the world was their fault and that this was the least that they could do.

The large and boisterous man moved past them and headed for the next room, grabbing the remote from the sofa armchair and flicking it on. Normally, it would remain on from noon till night but only he and Hill could bring themselves to watch it anymore. Only he and Hill could stomach it.

He leant against the back of the sofa and considered how far his life had dropped; how far the mighty had fallen… he was once Prince and heir to the most powerful and proud realm in all nine, now that house was a false front of lies and disappointment; all that he had grown with, the knowledge of who he and Loki were was false, a hoax and a wish. His father had tricked them all into believing his pipe dream where he and Loki would reign supreme over the realms and keep the peace.

He would sit arrogant and ignorant in the seat of Odin and his brother would watch on in the vacated and cold chair of Lauefy, presiding over the bitter and hateful race that they had grown to know as monsters and fiends while Thor was the King of Asgard. Did Odin think that peace and happiness would ever come from his foolish decisions?

Why had his father led them to believe that the Jotuns were monsters? Why let Loki believe that he was nothing whilst Thor remained the favoured and best at everything? Why were they never the same in his father's eye?

Halfway across the galaxy in another dimension, Heimdall watched the young prince as his face was covered with his hands. This was not the first time that the guardian had seen the young prince lost to fear and doubt and it would not be the last that he would see the young prince in pain, but one this one occasion he could not take it.

For as he turned his golden eyes to cast down on Midgard he saw the sufferings of the people, the pains of their hearts and the aches of their souls; he saw the extremes of their longing and the depths of their extended depravity. They were breaking at the seams and all because of the folly from Loki's mind.

He dropped the sword at the edge of the Biofrost and turned on his heel, heart closing off as the tears moved down from the corner of his eyes. His legs seemed to carry him from the broken gateway to the throne room in no time at all, although considering from him that time passed very differently to most minds; this was no surprise.

As he reached it Lady Sif and the Warriors Three were already there, waiting for him, he frowned and nodded at them as they inclined their heads towards the door; where Princess Torunn was leant with her father's smile on her face but the same pain in her eyes. "I saw you making your way here…"

"You have felt them, too?" He asked as she pushed herself away from the door and over to them, her head nodded as she stared at the ground.

"How is it possible for an entire world to make such a distressed howl?" She asked the ground. None answered, none needed to.

"What are you going to say to the King?" Fandrall asked, his voice switching to a falsetto. "Excuse me, All Father but I need you to conjure up enough dark magic to send me and an army of Asgardian warriors to a realm that your sons are tearing apart." His voice switched back as he gloated solemnly. "He will strike you down where you stand."

"No, I'm going to say All Father please give me the permission to smite Fandrall where he stands." She shot back, her hand resting on the sword hilt as a clear and concise warning; the blue in her eyes flashing like lightening.

"Enough, you two, you are acting like babes." Sif order, interrupting the child and Torunn, her body moving between the two of them to make sure that they didn't leap for the others throat. "Although his mocking tone casts a shadow on his opinion, he is right my child." Her hand touched the girl's shoulder and pulled her back from anger. "What is your plan?"

"To somehow find a way to Earth and end Loki." They all turned and looked at the All Father, standing in the corner of the room and his stance with all the power and strength he possessed. "And quickly, because I fear for the bride that he has taken."

"So, he has taken a child?" Charles asked, rolling the wheelchair forward and looking at the file that Fury had put on his desk, Scott and Jean moved in closer watching Clint, stood on the side line of Fury's persuasion, his face closed off and guarded.

Clint let out a loud laugh and shook his head. "Don't let Tori hear you call her that." Fury gave him a quick glare but he just raised an eyebrow back at him.

"I knew that his plans were extreme but I didn't think he managed to accomplish so much." Scott said, looking at the map of the world, covered with the red stickers for camps; it wasn't a big map and there wasn't much land to be seen on it.

"He has a huge reach, within two hours of killing our President the Chutari had already taken the families of eight different heads of state, seventeen royals and slaughtered Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cambridge. He has complete ergonomic control but it is by fear." Fury finished.

"What do you want to do?" Charles asked, his hands folding on the table as he looked up at the Former Director. "Raise a rebellion and chuck him in prison."

"Well, Stark wants to raise an army and defenestrate him, see how he likes being thrown from buildings but my plan is to get an army and shut him down."

Scott pulled up a chair and put his head on his hands as he addressed them. "Then your problem isn't the bodyguards or ex mercenaries; your problem is taking down the Tesseract."

"For that I need you and the Brotherhood." Charles' head snapped up at the mention of that, his blue eyes widening and shaking but Fury leaned forward, muttering imploringly. "We need them, Professor, and I'd go to him myself but after we put Mystique in lockdown we haven't had the best relationship. I need you to go to him."

"Erik and I do not have a fully functioning relationship, either, Director." He warned, pushing himself back in the wheelchair. "But, I do realise this situation calls for dramatic efforts. We will find him."

"Thank you, Charles. You are a great help." Fury said standing, and readying to leave. "In this pack," he said, holding it up and showing it to him. "There is everything you'll need to know, I'm afraid you'll have to come up with the plan to close the Tesseract, we didn't have the time and we don't have a _full _list for your students and their powers."

Charles smirked and took it as Fury turned and walked away, Clint nodding to them as they exited and sighing when they entered the Land Cruiser.

"Where now?"

"The King of Wakanda is waiting for me and I have an expired meeting with Carol Danvers. Oh, and then there's the Thunderbolts and the Abomi-."

"On Banner's behalf and on the behalf of the rest of the world; I veto Abomination." Clint spat, quickly and clearly, his finger pointing in the superiors face.

"It's about his shutdown."

"How have they not done that yet?" Clint yelped, considering the terrifying possibilities if the Abomination was discovered by Loki.

"Tori, turn it down." Bruce commented as Swedish House Mafia played around their heads, banging off of the walls in the lab as she danced around the computer table, a smile on her face as she laughed at him. "Has the hysteria finally got to you?" He asked, raising his voice over the music.

"Can you tell that I've spent too much time with you?" She smirked, causing him to laugh, his eyes rolling at her antics. Barney watched from the corner of the room, the stoic and malcontent man had even managed to crack a smile at her style; especially after the news that his little brother Clint was safe and alive and free of Loki's spell. His muscles bulged as he folded them across the broad chest, his gun resting in its holster, safety catch off but magazine left in his room. He never carried it around them, not since Tori had told him the plan. Not since he had agreed to save the world.

Which was why this guard had been chosen by Tori to stand over the two of them as they pretended to work, occasionally he even made up reasons as to why the camera gave out; other times he let Loki yell at Tori and move his hand to strike her but never be quite able to.

"Come on, Bruce!" Tori called, dancing over to him and smirking. "Live a little."

Bruce rose his eyes up to give her a fatherly and concerned look. "The last time that someone told me to 'live a little' I shot myself full of Gamma Radiation and proceeded to kill a couple of hundred people." His voice quipped, in a sombre tone.

Tori's hand flicked out and turned off the music, whilst her face became thunderous and dark. "Buzz. Kill." She said into his face, heading along to the other computer and leaning over it, her eyes flicking to every camera in the room as she cast her eyes around.

"I wanna make some popcorn…" she mused, her nails flicking against the side of her cheek as she acted for them on the computers. "How long do you think it will take in the microwave, Barney? Five minutes?"

Barney looked at his watch for a fraction of a second then tilted his head, sniffing. "A little more than that, perhaps seven or eight."

"Perfect." She sighed, trotting to the door and holding it open for the two of them. "Onwards, Jeeves."

Bruce rolled his eyes apologetically to the mercenary and waved him through first, following them as they made their way to the kitchen. Or better known to them as the weakest part of the Helicarrier; aside from the roof.

Because they had gone for the aesthetic value for the kitchen it was primarily; a window. Granted a very strong and tensile window with the power to hold extreme weather conditions and be air tight but the right hand side of the kitchen was a large window. This, when you looked down, showed you the coastline of North America.

"So, when you but these in there-?" Tori began, taking the popcorn out of the cupboard and looking at it suspiciously before Barney interrupted her.

"You're trin' to tell me, that you've ne'er made popcorn before?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as Bruce giggled.

"I lived in a house where the A.I. would announce to Tony that my consorts were trying to sneak out the back of the house; I had a machine to make my popcorn."

She opened the packet and opened the microwave door, chucking it inside and jumping away from it, as if it were to explode. Bruce sighed and stepped forward, reading the information on the back of the discarded rubbish and nodding, clicking the settings on the side and starting it.

"Easy." He said, nonchalantly over his shoulder to her. "You see, easy?"

"Should be, yeah?" She sighed and hid her pain and fear behind her carefree expression. "You gonna be okay, tonight? Having dinner on your own, I mean?"

"I have had dinner on my own before, you know." He said, although the feeling behind it was still there. To an outsider this was an ordinary, all be it strange, but to them these words spoke volumes of gratitude and pain. "How 'bout you? He can be a little… forceful."

Tori smiled, shakily, but pushed through her fear. "Oh, I'll be fine without you. Better off." She smirked, blinking twice and looking out of the window, sighing.

That's when it began. Their plan.

"Just really wish…. That I didn't have to be here… with him." Tori whispered, setting off Bruce's anger. "… He scares me."

At 5 o'clock that afternoon a series of thing happened that would change the world.

Torunn and the rest of the Asgardians landed with a ground shattering fall as across the continent the Hulk raged and screamed; Tori lost, unconscious underneath the rubble; Tony and Pepper watched the thunder storm rage around the house as Steven Rogers fought to breath; Thor Odinson looked up at the stars and saw his hope arrive; Charles Xavier sat across a chess board with Erik Lensherr watching him, guards up but ears open; the King of Wakanda listened to Clint Barton tell him about what was happening to his planet.

But in a small part of the world, in a darkly lit and heavily shadowed corner, with no one watching as computers buzzed around them, the World Council sat around the table, their hands folded as the voted unanimously to use nuclear missiles on Loki's Helicarrier and the ruins of Manhattan.

The fate of humanity are put into the hands of a super soldier; a group of Asgardian warriors; a would be King; a freak of nature; a series of master assassins; an unknown ruler; a broken friendship; a torn man; a scientist; a spy; a C.E.O; an arrogant group of heartless controllers; and a human child.

So, this was a weird chapter to write; lots of things going on if you're confused about the new characters here's a list; they are all Marvel. I swear.

In order of appearance;

Heimdall; keeper of the Biofrost and Asgard, looks over everything.

Lady Sif and the Warriors Three; Sif, Hogan, Fandrall and Volstagg; Thor's friends and fierce warriors.

Torunn; Sif and Thor's daughter (Appears in the Next Avengers series with James Rogers, Hank Pym and Za'vi.)

Charles Xavier- X men leader from X men. You know, X men… the film series.

Scott Summers- Cyclops from X men

Jean Grey- Pheonix from X men

Erik Lensherr- Magento from X men

Mystique- FROM X MEN!

The Thunderbolts- I'm not sure what they are but they are part of the Marvel Universe so they get a song and dance.

Abomination- Hulk's greatest enemy

Barney Barton- If you haven't guessed already he's Clint older brother, although in this instance he's younger; way younger.


	11. Chapter 11

**So, for anyone who missed it or can't be bothered to read it or was really confused by last chapter; here's what happened in a shorter paragraph. Thor's mates and family realised that Loki needed to be taken out and Thor needed help; Fury and Clint began going around the country trying to find recruits for their really big (it's not really big I lied) army to take down Loki, Charles and Erik had schnapps and played a little chess whilst they talked about the future of humanity, Clint's little bro decided to help Bruce escape. Bruce went loco over spilt cocoa and somewhere under his mess is Tori, who will no doubt be facing some kind of terrible situation. Oh, yeah and Steve is struggling to live; which sucks. So, things are not looking too good for Earth's Mightiest Heroes and I doubt that they are going to get any better. But I really don't know because I haven't written that bit yet. ONWARDS, NOBLE STEAD! P.S. from now it'll be me talking about them because there are a lot of p.o.v's.**

"Steven, Steven Rogers… do not be alarmed, I am Professor Charles Xavier." Steve's head snapped up sharply as Bucky and Peggy frowned at the new figure that had just entered the bar, the others from the group had all lowered their drinks and begun to stare at the exchange.

Charles Xavier was a young, mousey looking boy with a head full of brown locks and big blue eyes that didn't seem to end. His skinny and slightly short body stood out against the midst of burly and tall men with tanned skin and heavy lidded eyes but he just seemed to smile through it. His hands stuck in the pockets of strange trousers and a blue cardigan hanging over a dark shirt buttoned all the way to the top.

"Um, hello, sir; are you all right you look a little lost?" He said, putting the beer in his hand down, even though he had no idea why he was drinking a beer since it had no effect on him, and made his way across to the young man beaming at him.

"Oh, no, I'm not lost but I would like to talk to you. Shall we sit over there?" He asked, nodding to the vacated table by the corner which everyone seemed to be avoiding.

Not wanting to be rude, Steve nodded and followed him across the bar till he could sit at the corner of the bench and watch the man across from him. His smile had dimmed now but there was still a kindness to his eyes that calmed Steve's suspicion. They sat there in silence for a few moments before Charles cast a look around and asked with a frown.

"Where are we?"

Steve smiled and laughed. "You sure that you're not lost? We're in Harry's bar in New York city." He watched as Charles nodded and then looked at all the faces laughing at the guys or watching them carefully. "So, who, exactly, are you-?"

"What's going on? You're all celebrating and they were cheering you on like frat boys at any university party; what's going on?" He asked as Peggy turned back to Bucky.

"Oh, we just defeated some Nazi's about a week back; took down Red Skull and saved the day." He smiled, absentmindedly, picking at the sticker of a discarded beer bottle. "That kind of thing."

"And, I am just guessing, that it was by your leadership; if that banner is anything to go by." Steve laughed as he turned his head to look at the blue and red banner with his name printed on it followed by the words, "National Hero."

"Yeah, I led the team, over there." He said pointing at them as they began to drink again, Bucky waved and smiled but it wavered as he looked at the Professor. "But, if I'm honest, I couldn't have done it without them."

Charles nodded and turned to face him with a hard look in his eyes; he exhaled and braced himself as he began to talk. "And your new team cannot defeat Loki without you; so, I need you to wake up."

Steve jumped and stared at the young man, worry running through him as well as confusion. He stared at the young professor and saw the change in him and suddenly he was afraid; the warmth of him was gone, replaced by urgency and a directness that made Steve frightened. Charles had moved from a casual and carefree guy that had just wandered in lost and bemused to a man that knew that all the answers and no patience for questions.

"Steve, I need you to listen to me; everything that you see around you is a dream, it's not real." He said, watching him as he cast a look over his shoulder to stare at Bucky and Peggy, who hadn't turned to face him. "All that you can see, everything around us is just your heads way of protecting you because you can't cope but you have to be brave, Steve. You have to push through all of this and wake up."

"Stop it." Steve whispered, his hands beginning to shake as the world around them dimmed and fizzed, the people began to be quiet, the music lowered and the lights flickered on and off again as Steve jumped; his heart beating against his chest and his head buzzing with fear.

"This has happened; this day in the 1940's happened but with one big difference, you weren't there." Charles said calmly, watching Steve freeze and stare at him. "You froze yourself to save humanity, you saved everyone Steve; you did it and then you woke up in 2012. Then S.H.I.E.L.D. asked to be a part of the Avengers-."

"Stop it," Steve hissed, grabbing Charles by the front and glaring into his face. "Stop lying to me, you sick bastard. This is all real." He cast his hand around and gestured wildly at his friends. "Me, Bucky, Peggy, this bar-."

"What bar, Steve?" Charles asked. "Take a look."

Steve breathed in and out for a few seconds before moving his head around letting go of his front with a gasp, breathing heavily as he looked around at the lack of anything.

They were surrounded by… nothing. No people, no music, no tables, no beer, no colour. There was nothing; it was like they were in a void. A void that had sucked them in and taken them… it was just a blanket of space. Wide open space with a metallic taste to the air and a ringing in the ears. They were alone.

"What…? What did you…? This… I." Steve fell to his knees, his head spinning as his stomach flipped itself in and out; knotting and untying as he tried to stabilise, tried to control himself and his weak emotions. "No! That was real I felt all of that!"

"You felt it because you wanted to but, Captain, didn't you ever once wonder why certain things didn't happen or you didn't see them or your heart didn't feel right with the emotions that you were feeling." Charles said, kneeling in front of him and keeping his eyes on him, he had this ability to make it feel like Steve had to look at him without touching him or holding onto him. "When Bucky was there with you. When Peggy and you were together. When you survived."

"You don't question the things that your mind tells you; you're wrong, Professor. I am not… That was real, that was my life in the 1940's not 2012! I lived then; I lived then until I die in the future! I have not seen 2012 nor will I ever-!"

"Recognise these people?" Charles asked as five people appeared in a line, all of them staring ahead their eyes blank and unfocused, their shoulders straight and militaristic whilst they stood tall in a variety of clothes.

Two men stood next to each other, one aged beyond his years and one younger than he was, they were the same height and stature but whilst one had a kind and gentle expression, the other was arrogant and proud.

Two uniformed people were next, one with a bow and arrows on his back and the other with a holster filled with a strange gun, her body was slim and supple but tightened in by the uniform that she was wearing. The man stood with muscles bare and chest out but the same symbol as one her uniform on his.

The next was an incredibly tall and strong man, long hair and tough face. He was dressed in a kind of armour with a hammer stuck in his hand, cape flying down from his broad shoulders to the leather encased boots.

Altogether they varied from the strange to the normal; the tough men in chainmail to a gentle man in a purple shirt. His heart leapt as he saw them, his throat constricting but his head flailing with the information.

"I don't… I'm sorry. They don't…"

"It's all right, Steve." A new voice said over his shoulder, casting a look around he saw a young man stood in front of him wearing a beautiful white dress that moulded into the background around her before it shifted from the nothing to a pale skyline with grass beneath his knees. Her long dark hair pooled around her shoulder as she looked at him with a soft smile.

Steve looked around and saw Charles sat a few feet away from him and watching them. "It's all right, unlike the others, she is real. Half real. Let me explain." He sighed, moving up and over to Steve as he began to talk again.

"I have a very special ability; I am a telepath, which means that I can reach out to minds and make contact. Because your mind is so open and fractured it's easy to get to you and because Tori is asleep on the Helicarrier it's easy to reach her. I've connected you two with hopes that it would jog your memory."

"Did it work?" She asked, fear seeping into her eyes as he began to stand and move over to her, his hand brushing against her hair and then down to her cheek, cupping it in his hand.

"You're okay… You're okay." He whispered. "You're still alive?" She nodded and pulled him to her, leaning her head onto his chest and breathing him in whilst she could; they both knew that it was useless, whatever warmth and touch they got from this was unreal but it didn't matter to them. They needed this.

"… He told me that you were dead." She whispered, turning her head up to his and looking at every line on his face till she remembered them all. "He told that they killed you."

"Do you think that I would leave you like that?" He asked her, bringing his head to hers and brushing his lips on the top of her hair. "I've missed you. So much." He said as all the memories came flooding back, all the pain and anguish and horror. But it was surpassed by the happiness and joy of this moment.

"I never thought that I'd see you again."

Steve held her to him and crushed her chest up to his, her head falling into the crook of his neck and resting there with her lips on the side of his throat, whilst her arms wrapped around him and held onto his shirt, crinkling the soft material and keeping him near her.

Then there was a crack and a yelp of pain from behind them; Steve turned back to stare at the young man and watched as he morphed into an old man with no hair and then back again. His face scrunched into concentration and agony; his hands going to his temple and pushing down.

"We don't have long. AH!" He yelled. "They're trying to wake Tory up; I can't keep this connection for long, you have to move."

Steve suddenly felt the girl around him shudder and begin to quake, her eyes on the ground as she breathed in and out, unable to calm herself, unable to think, unable to cope. Steve grabbed at her and sifted her face up till she looked at him wither blue eyes; filled with fear. Filled with a terrifying and contagious fear that almost killed his heart.

"I'm coming for you. I promise, I am coming for you and I will find you and bring you home. You're going to be safe."

"Steve…" she whimpered, falling to the ground and sobbing. "Steve… I'm scared, he's gonna kill me. He's gonna kill me." She repeated that like a mantra over and over, rocking herself and rocking herself against him as she fought to breathe.

"No," Steve said, commandingly holding her head in his hands and making her look at him as she tried to stop the tears from flowing from her eyes like strong rivers. He put his hands on hers and held them in his own, they practically absorbed them they were so small.

"No, I am not going to let him do that. I will never let him do that. I am going to stop him, I swear this to you. I will stop him, I will save you."

"How?" she whispered, her voice was like a brittle rock, strong but fraying and snapping, ready to break. It cut at Steve's heart like it was a knife made of diamonds, in both dream and reality.

"I don't know yet," She let her head fall down and refused to look at him, disappointment in the air like a bad smell. "But I am going to save you, the second I wake up."

"We don't have any more time." Charles' voice said, over the sound of a stomach churning snap and crackle. Steve stared as the sky around them began to change and deform, flicking from one colour and weather to the next. "I'm sorry."

Tory fell onto Steve and put her head next to his, her cheek brushing his and her hair tickling his chin. She whispered in his ear and then she was gone, vanishing as if she had never existed in the first place. Like a ghost or a… vision.

He breathed in and held it there in his chest, keeping his body straight and stiff as he pushed away the tears threatening to fall. He heard Charles move closer till he stood at his shoulder, not touching him just staying close so that Steve knew that there was someone here for him; he wasn't alone anymore. He wasn't alone like he was in the ice or after Bucky or… when he woke up. All of his life he had no one to look after him or rely on; not since his parents died after that he was old enough to take care of himself, he didn't need anyone except for Bucky and then they had to separate… He's been alone for so long, used to only doing things as a solitary mission with no real backup; that it's all foreign to him what it's like to be in a team with people who are just as lonely as you are.

But when he saw all their faces he realised that he was perhaps the better off out of all of them, despite the fact that his family and friends were all dead; Tony had had a childhood void of love and parenting guidance; Bruce was forced to be an outcast to make sure that he didn't harm more people, including himself; Clint had lost his only family member after a vicious argument that left them on separate parts of the planet; Natasha was a spy to every inch of her body because she could trust no one, she could love no one. And, debatably the lowliest of them all, was Thor who had only come to realise how naïve and stupid he had been; his greatest friend and ally had also transformed into his greatest enemy who, with every waking thought, wanted nothing more than to kill him. Thor had, also, come to a dimmed revelation that his father was less the man that he ever thought him to be. Thousands of years' worth of memories and love and respect was gone.

Tony really should have named them 'Director Fury's Lonely Hearts Response Team.'

So, Steve both hated and loved Charles for waking him so rudely from the dream. His hate spurred from his head's rational reaction to want to run away from this horrible reality that was breaking him but he loved him because he forced him to realise that he had never once run from anything in his life and he wasn't about to start now; especially when people needed him. When she needed him.

Steve stood slowly, rising to his feet and nodding to the young man who smiled warmly and vanished just as quickly as he had entered the dream and Steve was alone, again. But this time he knew how to get back to them.

The team had moved from the small hut in Texas two weeks ago; transporting the unconscious Steve Rogers was the most difficult part of that but Jane and Pepper had managed to snag a large van and shoved the sleeping body into the back on a mattress and a series of pillow and blankets. Tony had taken Thor in a car behind them, the Norse God watching the scenery sail past them with the hammer stuck firmly between his knees. Natasha and Maria Hill had brought up the rear on Steve's motorcycle because if he had woken up without the bike he would have murdered everyone.

They made the trip to New York with only Natasha and Maria being pulled over by a Legion and that was to make some remarks about lesbian stereotypes and how they were playing right into them; Natasha just laughed as she kicked his groin and flipped her hair over her shoulder as she got back on the bike.

Charles Xavier had welcomed them with a great big smile on his face, pulling open the door and wheeling himself back away for them so that they could walk in and shake his hand, telling him how grateful they were and then chasing Steve's trolley down the garden as he rolled away from them; which, as Tony summed up in a mutter to Pepper, summed up their lives so far.

Charles had been only too happy to explain to them why they had been left so alone by Loki's army and mercenaries and the explanation was simple; they had no idea that they were there. Hank McCoy, the third most brilliant scientist that Tony had ever come across, had managed to find some barbed wire and old sign posts and erect them around the mansion, making it look as though the building had been abandoned for years whilst Charles filled their naïve and culpable heads with the images of a derelict and pathetic home that was once grand. ("I expected something more… sciency. " Tony had said, disappointedly.)

They had all been given rooms away from the students, the ones that stayed at the mansion, and were told that they were safe here and if they needed anything else all they had to do was ask; with food being downstairs in the pantry or kitchen and bathrooms dotted all around the place.

After they unpacked, they all sat in Tony and Pepper's room, taking spaces up on the floor or on armchairs that looked as though they belonged in the 40's rather than in Charles' mansion. Jane sat on the window frame looking at the world outside and wondering whether she'd ever get back to her old life or if she would be able to care on after this? Would she be taken to Asgard or left here alone while Thor dealt with Loki alone? Was Erik all right or had he been taken up in the fires of Manhattan? She was so busy wondering about her own life that she very nearly missed the sight of Torunn and Sif walking along the field outside Charles's mansion with the other's flanking them.

"Oh, my God…" She whispered, her hand roaming out to slap at Thor. "Sweetie, I think the Calvary is coming."

The demi-god sighed and pushed himself up to look out of the window, jumping as he saw the sight of the Asgardians and for a moment he froze; unable to move the muscles in his body anymore.

He didn't his comrades and future subjects to see him so weak and… lost. To them he was the most powerful and strong leader they had had; he was the promised son, the hope of the next generation of Gods but this feeble failure was nothing like what they knew or thought. He was an echo of his former self, barely able to fight against his own manic brother; how could they ever come to trust or respect him as a King if they saw him now?

Jane wrapped a hand around his wrist and nodded, smiling softly and spurring him on; he looked up and then turned and ran down the steps, he sped along till he reached the garden and then slowed. His young daughter pushed the windswept hair out of her face and stared him before speeding along and attaching herself to his neck, her legs swinging up as he caught her and span her around. "You've been so strong." She whispered into his ear, holding onto him as the others reached them.

"My friends, my family," He looked down at Torunn. "Why are you all here? You could be anywhere in the Nine Realms… how are you here?"

"The All Father managed to conjure up enough magic to send us through." Hogun responded gruffly, glancing around and narrowing his eyes, as if the world around him was so foreign it was evil. He sighed as he turned to look back, watching as Thor stared at his young daughter, tears in his eyes as he faced away from the all.

"You should not have come; it is too dangerous for you all. You have to leave." Thor whispered; earning a loud series of scoffs from the warriors around him.

"Have we ever left you, Thor?" Fandrall asked, raising a near prefect blond brow as his tone peaked near mocking.

"No-."

"And we never will. Brothers in arms." Sif said, moving forward and putting her hand on Thor's shoulder before glancing at her daughter. "And sisters."

Thor smiled as Torunn glanced behind him and moved over to greet the others, smiling at each one of them in turn, nodding and shaking hands. She moved over with Tony and Natasha towards the end, their heads bowed as they began planning. Thor looked at all of them and smiled; the pieces were coming together, soon they would be able to strike back at Loki.

**I don't like the ending but I lost my muse halfway through and it refused to come back to me. I hope that you don't mind and I'm sorry about the wait as well. In fact, I am just sorry. I am, I am, I am. I am sorry.**


End file.
